Area science students excel at state fair - NewsTimes.
Kerr's sister, Janine, an eighth-grader at St. Rose School in Newtown, won more than half a dozen awards at the state fair for her project "Outbreak! Predicting the Modes and Transmission Rates of a Human Viral Epidemic." Viola entered the fair for the first time with her project to determine the incidence of MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can be life threatening if it gets into the blood stream, at the high school. She took 30 samples from commonly touched areas, such as door knobs and gym equipment, and had two samples test positive for MRSA -- a badminton racket and a computer keyboard.