In early February, North Gwinnett’s Science Olympiad team went to Georgia Tech as part of the 2018 Division C Regional Tournament, where with 21 people on two teams, 12 on the A team and 9 on the B team, they placed fifth in the region!
Here’s a brief introduction to Science Olympiad.
It is an academic competition similar to Academic Decathlon and Academic Bowl where students from elementary, middle (Division B), and high schools (Division C) as well as college, compete in 23 team-based events ranging from knowledge tests about topics in biology, chemistry, geology, anatomy, and physics, lab practicals, to building and engineering events.
Most events are partner-based and depending on whether a school brings more than one team to a competition, each member of a team participates in three to four events at tournaments, which occur at high schools and universities at the invitational, regional, state, and national levels. While tournaments are typically six to eight hours long, students have the chance to relax, study or socialize in between events, which are one-hour long. Competitors who have placed first, second, third or fourth in their events are individually awarded medals, but the overall rankings of schools at tournaments depend on the total scores and medals won at all events.
As for North Gwinnett, with 22 total medals and at fifth place, they were, unfortunately, one place away from moving onto the state level, since only the top four teams, which were GSMST, Walton and Wheeler High Schools from Marietta, and Woodward Academy from College Park, were allowed to advance.
However, for Joanna Choe, the North Gwinnett Science Olympiad President, who has been participating in Science Olympiad since sophomore year, winning fifth place was a fitting finale for her high school involvement.
Regarding North Gwinnett’s success at this year’s regional tournament, Joanna noted that as the club’s president, “there is nothing more satisfying than seeing [our] members benefitting from the weeks of preparation that went into making this competition happen. More than the intellectual talents, it was the teamwork that won us our plaque.”
Even though this is the last Science Olympiad tournament for North Gwinnett this year, with the growth that the team has displayed within the past year, there is no surprise that North Gwinnett will once again surpass expectations in Science Olympiad next year!
