The Science Olympiad is the largest science-based competition held in the United States. Teams of middle and high school students across the country spend months preparing for a variety of events testing their knowledge base, engineering skills, or ability to collect and analyze data. Participating schools initially attend a regional event. Teams that perform well at the regional level proceed on to the state level of competition. Finally, the top two teams from each state advance to the National Science Olympiad.
Montclair Public Schools have a long history of participation in the Science Olympiad. Teams from Buzz Aldrin, Glenfield, Renaissance, and Montclair High School have been a part of the Science Olympiad for over 25 years. This year, all three middle schools participated in the northern regional competition held at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on January 8. Montclair High School participated in the Union County College Regional on January 15.
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Buzz Aldrin Science Olympiad Team competed against 21 of the top STEM schools of northern New Jersey. The Buzz Aldrin Science Olympiad Team finished second in the region, earning medals in nine out of 14 events.
6th place – Roller Coaster: Cole Fasano and Jake Regal
6th place – Circuit Lab: Josh Stout and Peter Emero
5th place – Disease Detectives: Sydney Martin-Grimes and Elke Brown
5th place – Picture This: Xavier Rao and Liam O’Reilly
4th place – Boomilever: Ian Habjan and Harry Rosen
4th place – Experimental Design: Sylvie Wurmser, Susan Anton, and Sydney Martin-Grimes
2nd place – Dynamic Planet: Edie Kholert and Sylvie Wurmser
2nd place – Game On: Jake Regal and Peter Romero
1st place – Mystery Architecture: Jasper Spoor and Alec Kuzyk
In finishing second in the region, the team qualified for the State Tournament in March where only the Top 28 schools in New Jersey will compete. Buzz science teacher and Coach Jeffrey Lawton along with classroom support teacher and assistant coach Stephanie Drodz will continue to prepare the team for a push to try to win the first state title in school history. Coach Lawton said, “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids! Four months of building, studying, experimenting, and problem solving got us where we are today and we’re going to keep that going for the state tournament in March!”
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Glenfield G’s brought a large team of 39 students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade to the NJIT regional competition. Glenfield students and their science teachers/coaches, Delia Maloy Furer and Emma Tami, thoroughly enjoyed their time rooting for their team, watching engineering-based events, and exploring NJIT. Many Glenfield students won medals for their outstanding efforts in the following events:
4th place – Dynamic Planet: Serena Lee (8th) and Jonah Kheronsky (7th)
3rd place – Circuit Lab: Sam Golding (7th) and Jasper Pinkus (7th)
3rd place – Elastic Launch Glider: Sam Golding (7th), Jasper Pinkus (7th), and Luke Horrigan (6th)
2nd place – Roller Coaster: Leo Babboni (8th) and Caleb Blim (8th)
1st place – Picture This: Kaia Hunkins (7th) and Kieran Wells (7th)
1st place – Experimental Design: Luka Loncar (8th), Zachary Troeller (8th), and Lewis O’Sullivan (7th)
Glenfield came in 5th place overall, and will proceed on to the state level of competition in March.
The Glenfield G’s will also attend an invitational tournament at Cornell University in mid-February.
Renaissance at Rand School was also not left off of the medal count. Circuit Lab, Experimental Design, and Mystery Architecture were among the events Renaissance students also went home with awards. “The students worked very hard up until the last possible minute preparing for their events,” said Todd Smith, Renaissance science teacher and Science Olympiad coach. “While we did not advance to the state finals, we are glad to have learned some new approaches for even more success next year. We really had some nice scientific devices designed and built by the students.”
Montclair High School students attended the highly competitive Union County College Regional Science Olympiad competition on January 15. High school students performed will in the following events: Experimental Design (7th place), Mousetrap Vehicle (7th place), and Fermi Questions (9th place). Although the Montclair High School team will not attend the upcoming state tournament, they improved their skill and knowledge base as they prepared for their events this year.