By Heather Zons, The Pulse staff writer
Both Science Olympiad teams have made it past their regional competition and are headed to the state competition at University of Wisconsin-Stout on April 2! Is this going too fast? Here’s the lowdown.
Indian Trail’s Science Olympiad is a group of two teams, advised by Advanced Placement Biology teacher Heidi Newberry. They partake in competitions that glorify biology, engineering, and math in projects that test the mind and the creativity of the students. Projects range from bridge building to catapult launching and the written tests are very advanced, even for AP students that make up a strong percentage of the club.
The regional competition was held on Feb. 5 at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Indian Trail’s Science Olympiad team competed in many events, such as Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Experimental Design, Forensics, and more, with each student competing in multiple events!
Indian Trail’s teams did so well that they brought home five medals in Ornithology, Optics, Protein Modeling, Anatomy and Physiology, and Rocks and Minerals. They also qualified for the state competition at UW-Stout.
The club’s adviser, Newberry, loves the atmosphere of being in this type of club.
“It’s all academic competitions that test your brain’s ability, which I love, rather than sport competitions testing your physical ability,” she said.
Carolyn Sanders, a Biotechnology Academy senior and member of Science Olympiad, expresses her admiration for the club as a whole.
“I love Science Olympiad. I love learning about different science topics, but often the lack of organization or drive to do so on my own time (is hard to cope with),” Sanders said.
The placement of spring break two weeks before the state competition frustrates Newberry and Sanders, but Newberry is confident that the students will do their proposed studying over vacation and be prepared when they get back to school.
Sanders has hopes for her teams at the state competition in April.
“We’ve been doing steadily better. I think that we can get a medal or two…” she said.
To prepare for the jump to state, the team will focus on overall improvement, better organization, and getting on the ball with what needs to be done.
Banni Lopez, Biotechnology junior, is on the same wavelength.
“[I like] learning about things that we wouldn’t normally learn in school and trying to do my best to win recognition,” Lopez said. Sanders and Lopez are both competing at state in multiple categories, including protein modeling in which Sanders placed second.
Science Olympiad is a unique and extremely competitive club that is open to all grades and academies. The members have fun times with their friends learning advanced science tools that are enjoyable to some and difficult to others. All the members welcome a challenge and are ecstatic about going to state in April!