Youth / News for the 18-and-under crowd
Erika Castro won the gold medal at the recent Cal State Fullerton science fair.
Castro, 17, a senior at Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, also took the top honor at a qualifying competition earlier this year.
On April 20, she beat more than 1,600 other competitors in the third annual Southern California Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement Day.
The event encourages talented minority students from junior high and high schools across Southern California to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering and other science-related fields.
Castro, who said she hopes to become a pediatrician, designed and built a toothpick derrick that could stand more weight than any other derrick at the competition, organizers said.
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