Science Olympiad places second at state competition
April 8, 2016
Students on the Science Olympiad teams participated in the annual Science Olympiad competition at the University of Connecticut (UConn) on Saturday April 2.
The high school had two teams, an A team and a B team. Each one consists of 15 students and is coached by science teachers Eric Tucker and Virginia Toepfer.
Categories at the high school level Science Olympiad include chemistry, physics, biology, earth and space science, engineering, construction and technical.
This year, 23 different events were offered. Each event ranking goes to the team’s overall score, which then determines the ranking of the team itself. Students who placed from first to fourth out of the teams received a medal for their accomplishment.
The A team placed fifth overall, and the B team placed ninth overall in the competition out of the 45 teams competing. After receiving various different awards, students reflected on their accomplishments and overall experience.
“The hard work I put into my events early in the year really paid off in the long run as I placed second in one of my events, helping the team to an overall fifth place finish,” senior Ben Green said.
The team members acknowledged their hard work and after reflecting on their results, were pleased due to the high placing outcome the teams had received.
“Overall as a team we did pretty well because both our A team and B team placed in the top ten which is pretty good compared to previous years. This is the best I have seen us do in the past three years,” junior Kristen Hart said.
The students added how they look forward to the future of the team since the B team primarily consists of freshman and sophomores.
Tucker said, “With such a strong B team performance this year, I think FHS is poised for very strong performances in the next three years of competition. In fact, there’s always the chance that Farmington could reach [first place], and get a chance to compete in the National competition.”