science olympiad

Science Olympiad Teams Engineer Success in Regional Competition

This past Saturday, two MICDS Upper School Science Olympiad teams competed against 15 other teams at the Science Olympiad Regional Competition at Lindenwood University. MICDS Team 1 placed 4th overall (out of 17) in the competition and qualified for the State Competition, which will occur at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on April 4. In addition, MICDS teams placed in the top 5 in 13 of the 23 events.

Science Olympiad is a national science competition with events in various scientific disciplines including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and engineering. Explore their website to learn about the various challenges involved in the competition. As just one example, in the “Write It, Do It” event, two partners work together to recreate an object assembly made of common materials such as Legos, pipe cleaners, cups and paper clips. One teammate closely observes the assembly and writes down every single piece of material included, as well as how all the pieces fit together. Their partner then builds the assembly based only on the written materials and instructions from their partner; they are not allowed to actually see the assembly. The teams are then judged on their written instructions and the recreation of the original assembly.

Science Olympiad student co-chair Jon Zhang ’20 shared, “Speaking from my four years of experience with SciOly at MICDS, I’ve been through many highs and lows, but what everyone put forth this past Saturday was by far the greatest moment I’ve seen. After missing the State cutoff last year, many of us returned determined to improve. This was an impressive rebound. We were also helped by many engaged newcomers, and I’ve been happy to witness the diversity and depth of our young team. It is comforting knowing that the club has a foreseeable future. Additionally, it was wonderful to watch more experienced members step up and take leadership roles in guiding and mentoring.

“I was extremely proud of everybody’s hard work. I saw a lot of great progress being made throughout the year and a lot of excitement throughout the day. Judging by the feedback we received, everyone told us they had fun and look forward to returning next year. Everyone who joins the team, including myself back in freshman year, joins because of a passionate interest in the sciences. I know it probably doesn’t sound fun having to study extra concepts on top of school, but being with friends studying concepts that you choose or building things that actually sound interesting makes it fun! I learned some additional study skills, and it was always cool seeing the overlaps between the club and school, such as when I learned about Thermodynamics in AP Chem class after doing the event in Science Olympiad.”

Congratulations to all of the Science Olympiad teammates, and best wishes to Team 1 competing at the state level in April!

Team 1

Team 2
Nischal Ada ’20* Nikitha Ada ’23* 
Nishanth Boppana ’20* Sonia Bhayani ’22*
Jialin Chen ’20* Aishani Chakraborty ’22
Henry Coen ’21 Nicole Dai ’23
Ceci Cohen ’20* Alex Dawson ’21
Joe Coolidge ’20* Sophie Fendler ’22*
Amy Li ’21* Ellie Gira ’22
Boyu Liu ’20* Shreya Gowducheruvu ’22*
Evelyn Lui ’23* Kareena Kanumury ’23
Simrin Phatak ’21*  Grayson Marks ’23
Fiona Richards ’21* Sasha Shanker ’22
Shudi Wang ’21* Haylii Sondrol ’22
Ittmum Zahir ’22 Sanchi Vishwakarma ’23*
Jerry Zhang ’21 Jack Xie ’22
Jon Zhang ’20* Kate Yuan ’22*
*Individual teams who placed in the top 5:
Astronomy – Joe Coolidge ’20 and Nishanth Boppana ’20 (3rd)
Circuit Lab – Nischal Ada ’20 and Evelyn Lui ’23 (3rd)
Code Busters – Jon Zhang ’20, Nischal Ada ’20 and Ceci Cohen ’20 (3rd); Sonia Bhayani ’22, Sophie Fendler ’22 and Kate Yuan ’22 (4th)
Designer Genes – Amy Li ’21 and Shudi Wang ’21 (3rd)
Disease Detectives – Amy Li ’21 and Simrin Phatak ’21 (2nd)
Dynamic Planet – Joe Coolidge ’20 and Boyu Liu ’20 (5th)
Forensics – Shudi Wang ’21 and Fiona Richards ’21 (3rd); Sonia Bhayani ’22 and Shreya Gowducheru ’22 (4th)
Fossils – Jon Zhang ’20 and Fiona Richards ’21 (5th)
Compound Machines – Evelyn Lui ’23 and Jialin Chen ’20 (5th)
Protein Modeling – Shudi Wang ’21, Boyu Liu ’20 and Jialin Chen ’20 (5th)
Water Quality – Joe Coolidge ’20 and Jon Zhang ’20 (5th)
Wright Stuff – Nischal Ada ’20 and Ceci Cohen ’20 (3rd)
Write It Do It – Nikitha Ada ’23 and Sanchi Vishwakarma ’23 (5th)