Richmond Hill Middle School Social Studies Fair winners competed at the regional level on March 6.

The project “Under the Influence:  The Pressure to be Thin,” by students Joanna Bayens, Madison Byrne and Katie Hillery (Bayens and Hillery are shown on left) secured first place, best in category, and will advance to the state fair held in Atlanta.

Other regional fair winners include: 1st place history,  Lauren Crank; 2nd place history, Cristy Davenport, Brandon Philbeck, Andrea Wright; 2nd place geography, Sarah Barry, Mary Doepp, Brittney Jones; 3rd place social psychology,  Nathalie Arroyo, Austin Hart, Kiah Lexie; 3rd place political science:  James Gormley, Zach Humrich, Eion Martinez.

The fair ended on a somber note for Arroyo.  Her project, detailing the stuggles to secure education for females in Taliban controlled regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, hit home when reports that three US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack outside a girl’s school in Pakistan on Feb. 3.  One of the soldiers was the father of her soccer teammate in North Carolina