Science Olympiad

After accepting the EHS Physical Science/Earth Space Science teaching job, Julie Splichal set her mind to forming a Science Olympiad team for the benefit of the students. Science Olympiad is an American middle school and high school team competition in which students compete in ‘events’ pertaining to various scientific disciplines.

“Students participating in Science Olympiad have a higher chance of receiving a scholarship to their college of choice,” says Splichal.  “Colleges are aware that it takes an immense amount of rigor and stamina to successfully participate in this nation-wide program.”

Splichal and Barbie Hartwell, the Extended Learning teacher, recruited 22 students to participate in the Oak Park competition on January 16. The competition consisted of 6 engineering events and 17 college-level tests in which participants are expected to study and excel in that topic to test against other high school students, hoping to individually place high in the event to help the overall team score. Examples of those tests are hydrogeology and astronomy.

The team placed 13 overall out of 26 teams, then went on to spend the later part of January and all of February working hard to prepare for the NE Kansas Regionals Science Olympiad competition, which was on February 27. Out of 22 teams, Eudora placed 7th, likely earning an invitation to attend the 2016 State Science Olympiad competition, though the team will not officially know until March 5.

Junior Hayden Brown personally enjoys participating in Science Olympiad.

“I participate because I love science and it is fun to be surrounded by people who also have an interest in the subject, and it benefits students by allowing those involved to pursue a particular interest that they have.”

If you love science and want to participate on the 2016-17 Science Olympiad team, see Mrs. Splichal and be prepared to be challenged.