DANILE TYLER GOODEN

PHOTO: EXERCISING HER MIND AND BODY Janie Reulet has been dancing for 11 years and is attending an international science fair with a local Lake Des Allemands science project. (Staff Photo by Daniel Tyler Gooden). ST. JAMES – One would think math and dancing are polar opposites, but St. James High School student Janie Reulet found both to be in her interest. The daughter of Richard Jr and Sandra Reulet, Janie has been dancing since she was 7 years old. Once she started she just kept going. Now after 11 years of dancing, she spends four hours, four days a week at Cabrini Simon’s Academy of the Arts where she helps teach. Fluent in Jazz, tap, ballet and lyrical styles of dance, she works hard, yet does this “just for the enjoyment,” said Reulet. In school, she puts the same effort into her studies, specifically math and science. This year Reulet will be part of a team representing St. James High School at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, Calif. Reulet, Christy Duet and Lee Granier took the school to the regional competition with their science project “The Effects of Increasing Salinity in Lake Des Allemends on Lead Fractionations in Surrounding Soil.” The project gave Reulet and the team the chance to examine the environment around Lake Des Allemends to see if the salt from the lake was effecting the natural environment. They found that if more salt was present in the soil, the levels of lead were lower. The team is headed for the fair May 6-12. The fair has been around for 50 years and has about 40 countries with more than 1,200 entries. The students from St. James High School have represented their school at the fair for the last two years. Reulet will be graduating this year and has already planned out her next step. She is headed to Delgado Community College in New Orleans next. After taking her science and math class requirements, she plans to head for Nicholls State University in Thibodaux to attend their nursing program. Reulet is aiming for a career in pediatric nursing and since she loves children, she seems on the right track.