Cloquet High School student Abigail Smith has been dazzling judges at science fair competitions since she was in middle school, and that hasn't stopped now that she's a senior. PolyMet Mining officials awarded Smith its top scholarship of $5,000 at the boys state hockey tournament in early March. The photo above is from the on-air presentation of the award by Ch. 45 sportscaster Joe Schmit.

In the presentation, PolyMet president and CEO Jon Cherry said the company likes to support students heading into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Smith credited her seventh-grade...