Science Olympiad Students Take Home Two Big Wins

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Wellington Chin

Longfellow’s Science Olympiad team won first place in regionals this year but were unable to compete at Nationals due to quarantine measures.

From the study sessions after school to the highly competitive tournaments, the Longfellow Science Olympiad team has always been a successful and reputable Longfellow team, as are many at Longfellow.  This year’s team came back victorious twice from major tournaments twice, before the season was cut short by Corona Virus.

Science Olympiad is a team-based competition that involves students conquering many realms of science, or “events.” This year’s team has participated and won first place at the Harvard Tournament in Boston on February 2nd, as well as winning first at the Regional Tournament in Charlottesville on February 15th.

“All [the team members] want to do is live, breathe and eat science,” said Ms. Boomer, the head coach for the SO team. “If I can provide an environment for them to do that, fantastic.”

Sadly, right before the team was due to compete in the State Tournament, both the State and National tournaments were canceled due to various reasons, including the novel COVID-19 outbreak. Even so, the students of SO will continue to persevere and move on beyond this roadblock. They remain optimistic about the experiences that the Science Olympiad has given them.

Longfellow has been very reputable when it comes to SO, with 14 wins at the state tournament in their 18-year legacy. Students meet almost every day and work with their teammates to research, build, and test for their particular events. Last year, the team won 8th place in the national tournament at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and this year’s team planned on repeating or improving on last year’s tournament result.

After the regional tournament, some members are cut from the competitive team. While this is a big disappointment, Ms. Boomer said they still have an important part to play.

“The non-competitive team actually helps the competitive team get even better because they know the material,” said Boomer. “A lot of them come back and help push us down the road to hopefully win the state tournament, celebrating the success of all thirty team members.”

The students of Science Olympiad have had a great year, albeit short. Many of the students will continue with the team next year, in hopes of achieving even greater glory.