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Science Olympiad Team Qualifies for State Tournament
The Heritage Middle School Science Olympiad team competed at the New Jersey Science Olympiad Division B Regionals Tournament at Union County College in Cranford on Tuesday, January 7. The team competed in 13 events, ranging from taking written assessments on topics such as “Anatomy and Physiology” and “Astronomy,” to launching a parachute-laden ping pong ball with a bottle rocket… to building and powering a wooden vehicle using nothing but the energy generated by an ordinary, household mouse trap!
Two members of the team were able to participate in each event, with some students having to take on and prepare for two and even three events.
“The competition was a grueling full-day of academic skill, patience, grit, and teamwork,” said team coach and LHS science teacher Dr. Alex Kuziola.
The team, which has practiced three times a week since October, showed a tremendous amount of team spirit and sportsmanship throughout the competition. The team medaled in three categories. Eighth grader Ira Kamath and seventh grader Harish Lolla earned sixth place in "The Garden State," a New Jersey-themed event centered around soils and agriculture. Seventh grader and team captain Fred Xu and eighth grader Nishna Makala earned fifth place in “Anatomy and Physiology,” an event which focused on the human skeletal, muscular, and integumentary (skin) systems, while eighth graders Anlin Wei and Jason Yu earned fourth place in “Ornithology,” an event challenging students to describe and identify North American birds based on their calls and physical characteristics.
Overall, the team placed ninth at the regional competition, and was recently informed that they qualified to compete in the state tournament at Middlesex County College on March 10.
“They now look forward to even more challenging events ahead with tougher competitors than ever before. Wish us luck! Go Eagles!” said Dr. Kuziola.