The Science Olympiad Club competed at the Haslett High School Invitational on Saturday. Jan. 24. Since then, they have been continuing to prepare for regionals.
Science Olympiad meets on Fridays after school anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. During their meetings, they prepare for upcoming competitions and events by studying, building new projects and bonding as a team. Newman Liao (11) has been a part of Science Olympiad since middle school.
“It used to be cliquey, but we’re trying to change that,” Liao said. “We had a team dinner after Haslett, so we’re actively trying to make it more connected as a team.”
Adelina Schenker (12), the Science Olympiad treasurer, feels the team has shown great improvement throughout the season and during her time in the club.
“It’s a really good environment,” Schenker said. “Everyone feels very connected and there’s a lot of team spirit.”
There are more than 30 members in the club who compete in 23 different events. The events cover all STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering, art and math. Aiden Kim (9) competed in entomology and disease detectives at the invitational.
“Both of [the events] I competed in are test events,” Kim said. “You have a test, and you have 50 minutes to complete it.”
Regionals for Science Olympiad are in March at a to be determined date. The team has competed two times so far this year, with only one more competition until regionals.
“[Haslett] was the competition before the real thing,” Liao said. “It’s our practice to know if we are ready before we actually do regionals.”
Kim placed eigth in entomology. Liao placed second with his helicopter and fourth with his boomilever for the engineering category. Overall, the Science Olympiad Club placed sixth at the invitational.
