Bio4Ever, a team of eighth grade students from Canyon Park, Leota and Skyview middle schools recently won the state and regional divisions of eCybermission, the U.S. Army’s STEM competition.

The Northshore School District students were the only team of eighth graders to participate in the state, and were awarded $2,000 per student for placing first in the state competition and received the same award for winning at regionals. The students also competed as national finalists earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

For the competition, the students investigated how to make an effective rain garden to reduce the pollution in the Puget Sound from water runoff, according to a press release. They researched plants and materials and visited several rain gardens in the community to determine configurations to build simulations and test. They tested for pH, turbidity and impurities initially and then used the data to determine a more optimum configuration.