It isn't often that a student or teacher from the area places in international competition, but one of each did so in The International Science and Engineering Fair at Philadelphia this month.

Amanda Jeanne Busby, 16, of Kennett, was one of nine winners of $500 in fourth awards from Intel in the engineering category. The Kennett High School student's winning entry addressed spectral changes in glass.

Meanwhile, John David Walls of Steele was one of seven teachers to win the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award for outstanding accomplishments as a science teacher. Walls is a teacher at South Pemiscot High School in Steele, whose students typically excel in the Regional Science Fair competition held annually at Southeast Missouri State University.

Congratulations to both. To reach the international competition level, students had to win at local, regional, state and national science fairs, so to reach the international level of competition is a fete in itself.