Atholton’s Science Olympiad team, led by science teacher Ms. Lindsey, had an exciting season this school year. Out of three major competitions, the group managed to grab multiple first place awards small events.
Science Olympiad is a club that competes at various STEM related competitions. Events at the competitions consist of various topics, from building machines that carry blocks, to Rube Goldberg machines, and even medicine related competitions.
The team is led by seniors Joon Park and Celena Fei and consists of about 25 members total, rangin in all grade and skill levels. This year, the group competed at the Princeton Invitational, Regionals, held at Mount Hebron High School, and the state competition held at Johns Hopkins University.
Meetings are held in Ms. Lindsey’s after school every Tuesday. The first few meetings of the year are used for members to determine which STEM subject areas they would like to focus on. After that, small event teams begin working together to prepare for competitions by building robots and studying fast science facts.
At each competition, there are about 20 events, according to Joon Park, that two or three members of the team each compete at depending on their main STEM focus area. Events range from operating a small helicopter, performing a biology or chemistry laboratory events, to taking an anatomy exam.
“In those events, we’ve come in the first place. Event-wise, we’ve won first place at states for four events,” said Park, “We won three gold medals at states and third place on this one [event] called Circuit Lab.” Even though getting ready for these events is stressful and requires long hours of studying and preparing, winning definitely pays off. Focusing on one topic for a long time can get boring and stressful, said Park. Although, he added that it is amazing to be rewarded for your efforts at the end.
The group has concluded their meetings for the year but they are looking for new members for next school year. The club is open to all grade and skill levels, all that is needed is an interest in STEM.