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`“We are excited to be hosting the Science Olympiad for a third year at Millersville. It’s great that we can provide a forum for students to apply their scientific knowledge while having fun at the same time,” said site director Dr. Alex DeCaria. “By bringing so many different schools together, it allows the students to meet other kids their age, who share their interests, and possibly help to spark creativity.”
Saturday, March 27, at 7 a.m. marks the third consecutive year Millersville hosted the Pennsylvania Central Region Science Olympiad. Middle and high schools from 12 counties in the central region of Pennsylvania will be competing against one another for the honor of moving onto competing in the state-wide competition at Juniata College. There were 22 high schools, and 15 middle schools competed at the Science Olympiad, scattered across campus at Brossman Hall, Caputo Hall, Roddy Hall, Pucillo Gym, and McComsey Hall.
The Science Olympiad consisted of two divisions: Division B for middle school students, and division C for high school students. Each division has 23 events, totaling 46 events altogether. The events cover many topics including anatomy, ecology, ornithology, fossils, environmental chemistry, meteorology. Teams built simple machines to accomplish certain feats, such as “Wright Stuff,” where a student flew a small airplane model based off the Wright Brothers’ experiments.
Every year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of technology. By combining events from many disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved, and emphasizes active, hands-on, group participation.
Much like a football or soccer team, competitive Science Olympiad teams prepare throughout the year for tournaments. Each team is allowed to bring 15 students who may participate in a variety of events in their skill set. Practices vary from monthly meetings to weekly study sessions to daily work as tournaments near, supported by an interlocking group of peers, coaches, parents and mentors from the community, academia, and industry.
Teams were awarded medals and trophies based on the least amount of points they gathered throughout the events. Medals were given to the students who took the event for their team. However, the pinnacle of the evening was who won the trophies. From Division B, four teams were picked, while from Division C, five teams were picked. Altogether, the nine teams advanced to the state tournament at Juniata College and won a trophy, excluding the fifth placing team in Division C.
From Division B, Middletown Area Middle School won fourth place, Hershey Middle School won third place, Allen Middle School won second place, and Spring Grove Middle School won first place.
From Division C, Susquehanna Township High School won fifth place, Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School won fourth place, Spring Grove High School won third place, Hershey High School won second place, and Bishop McDevitt High School won first place.
Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers.