Seniors Emma Rohrbach and Marcus Otto recently placed fifth in a national crystal-growing contest. The science club, sponsored by Donna Malkmus, takes place in this competition every year; this year is the club’s sixth year in a row placing in the top ten crystals nationally.

“I’m definitely very happy and proud of us,” Otto said. “I’m glad we kept Malkmus’s streak of top tens going. I knew our crystal was pretty nice when we were growing it and when we turned it in, but I didn’t know it was good enough for fifth [place].”

The crystals start with only a solution and a powdery formula. Students pair up in teams of two and work together over the period of roughly five weeks to grow their crystal. This year’s crystal-growing took place from mid-October to late November.

“I think it’s really fun,” Rohrbach said. “It’s something you have to keep track of and maintain, so it can be a lot of work, but it’s fun to watch it grow.”

Rohrbach has participated in the annual crystal-growing contest since her freshman year and encourages people to participate in the contest in the coming years. 

“It’s something cool for people to do,” Rohrbach said. “It’s neat to be able to grow something yourself and keep it.”