Cross Schools’ Science Olympiad team recently traveled to Presbyterian College, in Clinton South Carolina to participate in twenty-three events ranging from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) events. Twenty-five schools statewide competed, with Cross placing 13th overall and with a final score of 315.
The competition is a one-day event that students start preparing for at the beginning of the school year. Competitors determine their preferences in certain subdivisions. Many of the students are multi-year members who chose their events based on their strengths from previous science academic learning. For the test-based events, some members may even spend the whole year digging deep into a specific specialty. During the competition, they are asked to identify very detailed anatomical structures or analyze specific case studies that they have been studying for months.
In addition to the test events there are also build events where competitors are given a challenge and then required to build to meet the specifications of the challenge. For example, Dane Aulabaugh spent the fall and winter seasons designing a prototype ahead of time and bringing it to the competition. He did very well this year, finishing in the top half of competitors. Another event this year was water quality, in which Blake Burke and Ella Land finished strongly in fourth place in the state. Blake explains, “It was so fun being able to use what I learned and make friends while doing it”.
