photo by: Contributed

The Lawrence Virtual School team that participated in the eCYBERMISSION competition includes students Daniel Dao, Lawrence Dao and Eian Pracht. Nancy Jackson is the team adviser.

A project on artificial intelligence by three Lawrence Virtual School students has won a national competition, netting some prestige for the school district and some hefty prize money for the young teens.

The students — Lawrence Dao and Daniel Dao, of Lawrence, and Eian Pracht, of Lindsborg — took top honors in the eighth grade division of the 22nd annual eCYBERMISSION National Judging & Educational Event, and they will each receive a $10,000 savings bond.

The LVS team, known as The Scientists, under the guidance of adviser Nancy Jackson, conducted a study on the interest in introducing AI educational programs into schools. They also evaluated the accuracy of ChatGPT’s mathematical reasoning. The students had presented their findings to the Lawrence school district’s technology team and the school board, advocating for integrating AI into the curriculum and embracing its potential.

The eCYBERMISSION competition offers a free, virtual STEM experience for students in grades 6-9. It’s designed to foster teamwork, self-discovery and real-world STEM applications. Student teams, led by adult advisers, choose a local issue to investigate. Participants engage directly with STEM professionals, competing for awards at state, regional and national levels, all while gaining hands-on STEM experience.

At the national level, five finalist teams per grade level from across the nation participated in the competition. As one of these finalists, the LVS team earned a fully funded trip to the weeklong national event last month in the Washington, D.C., area. Throughout the week, they attended science workshops and presented their eCYBERMISSION projects to a panel of judges, including senior scientists and engineers from the U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Teaching Association and the eCYBERMISSION Team Advisor of the Year.