Science Students Compete Successfully at Regional and State Level

Each year, district students compete in various science competitions at the regional, state and national level. These competitions create environments that increase student interest in the sciences and improve the quality of science education.

Competing at the Southeastern Regional Science Olympiad against 37 other middle schools, all three middle schools placed in the top ten to qualify for the state competition. Science Olympiad consists of a series of challenging individual and team events balanced among various disciplines of biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers, and technology. Stetson placed fifth overall with the following students earning medals in their events: Amy Arndt and Sam Lebold (1st place); Joe Hayes and Stephanie Hanney (2nd place); Shannon Cain and Julianne Dones (3rd place); and Shannon Cain, Shweta Kumar, Amy Arndt, Sam Lebold, Sudesh Raju and Nicole Crisafulli (4th place). Peirce students placed ninth overall with the following students receiving 4th place awards: Logan Case, Mike Gu, Sid Dalal, Cameron Naulty, Colin Naulty. Fugett placed tenth overall with the following students receiving 2nd place: Drew Cancelliere, Stephanie Ou.

At the same regional competition, Rustin High School placed fifth out of 38 teams in the high school division to qualify for the state competition held in late April. The top eight teams from the region move on to the state level. The following students received medals in their events: Matt White (2nd place); Sarah Hayes and Mark Glatfelter (3rd place); Leo DeRita and Sarah Hayes (4th place); Jason Coffman, Billy Alfano and Glynnis Maynard (4th place).

Henderson High School students Tyler Brown and Mike Lacy have been chosen from over 300 students from the Philadelphia region to compete for a spot on the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad Team. Brown holds the distinction of earning the highest score in the Philadelphia region. Henderson senior Jarey Wang also scored high enough to qualify, but due to the limit of two students per school, will be unable to compete. The top twenty students from the national exam will participate in a study camp held at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Four students will be chosen from this select group to represent the United States at the International Chemistry Olympiad.

Two additional district students – Henderson’s Katharine Luginbuhl and Rustin’s Peter Jin – have scored in the top 10% of the nation’s biology students on the open exam to qualify as semi-finalists for the USA Biology Olympiad Team. At this level, over 5,800 students participated nationally from over 20 schools. All semi-finalists will complete a second exam from which the top twenty students will attend the two-week intensive National Finals featuring tutorials with leading biologists. At the conclusion of the Finals, the top four medal winners will be invited to represent the United States at the International Biology Olympiad.

East senior Matthew Young has been selected as one of Pennsylvania’s two delegates to the National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) held in West Virginia this summer. In existence for over 40 years, NYSC provides an intense four-week science camp for high school seniors the summer following their graduation. Each state sends two students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement, leadership, and a genuine interest in the sciences. Completely funded through contributions to the National Youth Science Foundation, Inc., the camp offers hands-on learning experiences and lectures from visiting scientists and a variety of challenging outdoor activities.

042508vz

Back to Main News