Slauson Middle School impresses at National Science Olympiad Tournament; takes home Spirit Award

The Slauson Middle School Science Olympiad team competed in the 2021 National Tournament hosted virtually by Arizona State University on May 22. The tournament’s middle school and high school divisions included 60 teams each, composed of teams that finished first in their state tournament and the second-place teams from some larger states. 

Slauson, which represented Michigan as the state champions, finished in 14th place overall. Additionally, Slauson received the 2021 Lockheed Martin Science Olympiad Spirit award, which recognizes a team that “best exemplifies good sportsmanship, team collaboration, and school spirit.” Teams that performed well not only in the competition but also in their communities were considered for this award. With this award, Slauson Science Olympiad will receive $2,000 for its program.

One of the nation’s most prestigious STEM competitions, Science Olympiad pivoted to a virtual format for the 2020-2021 academic year, providing new ways to play for students learning at home, at school, or after school. The competition is still comprised of events designed by experts from government agencies, top universities and industry covering topics in engineering, physics, epidemiology, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology, and coding; lab, hands-on and building events are creatively and safely run this year as video submissions or live interviews.

Science Olympiad was founded in 1984 dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 STEM education, increasing interest and opportunity in science, creating a technologically literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers.

The Slauson Science Olympiad Nationals team included Rex Bajcz, Radhika Bhide, Markus Eckner, Avanti Ganesan, Natalie Guo, Alexander Hsu, Aaron Kou, Dorothy Li, Anamika Suresh, Isabel Sutton, Michael Wu, Sanjita Pulgam, Patrick Regan, Shelley Ouyang, Theo Sacks-Thoma, Anamika Suresh, Isabel Sutton, Michael Wu. Team alternates were Jayant Bala and Aurora Janevic (who competed in the trial event Chiropterology), as well as Kabir Jha and Andrew Li.
Slauson teams won medals by finishing in the top 6 in the following events:

Boomilever: 2nd place, Bajcz and Hsu
Mission Possible: 5th place, Guo and Hsu
Road Scholar: 6th place, Kou and Regan
Water Quality: 6th place, Kou and Ganesan

Slauson teams also finished in the top 20 in the following events:

Crime Busters: 8th place, Kou and Li
Experimental Design: 9th place,  Hsu, Suresh, and Pulgam
Mousetrap Vehicle: 9th place, Bajcz 
Ornithology: 11th place, Sutton and Bhide
Anatomy & Physiology: 13th place, Suresh and Bhide
Dynamic Planet: 13th place, Kou and Sutton
Chiropterology: 16th place, Janevic and Bala
Digital Structures: 16th place, Hsu and Bajcz
Fossils: 16th place, Li and Sacks-Thomas
Meteorology: 17th place, Regan and Sacks-Thomas
Density Lab: 18th place, Wu and Bhide
Write It Do It: 20th place, Pulgam and Ouyang

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