Science Olympiad Team #1 in Vermont
The 海角论坛 Science Olympiad teams were awarded first, fourth, and seventh places at the recent Vermont state competition at The University of Vermont. First row, left to right, Leili Young-Xu, Qiyu “Eliza” Wan, Zhiying “Selena” Guan, Jianing Wu, Jiaxin “Jessie” Du, Qiongyin “Joey” Yan, Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu, Kasey Rice. Second row, left to right: Liang “Leo” Zhao, Zeou “David” Wei, Han “Carrie” Zeng, Yifeng “Gloria” Pan, Yiqi “Nick” Zhao, Myles Thornton-Sherman, Anzhelika Nastashchuk. Third row, left to right: Zixian “Michael” Chen, Weipeng “David” Zhou, Tianrui “Kerry” Li, Linjie “Lanny” Hao, Sung Woo “Sean” Jang, Luke Young-Xu, William Haresch, and Kenneth Achilles.
St. Johnsbury Academy science students recently placed first in the Vermont State Science Olympiad at The University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Two additional teams from the Academy also competed placing fourth and seventh. The first-place team has opted out of the national competition at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, since it falls on Commencement weekend.
The UVM website describes the Science Olympiad: “For the past 35 years, Science Olympiad has led a revolution in science education. What began as a grassroots assembly of science teachers is now one of the premier science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 7,800 teams in 50 states. Science Olympiad’s ever-changing line-up of events in all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines exposes students to practicing scientists and career choices and energizes classroom teachers with a dynamic content experience.”
Science Olympians participating in the event were Kenny Achilles ’21, Zixian “Michael” Chen ’20, Jiaxin “Jessie” Du ’19, Zhiying “Selena” Guan ’19, Linjie “Lanny” Hao, Will Haresch ’20, Sung-Woo “Sean” Jang ’20, Wenjing “Grace” Li ’21, JingHao “Vincent” Lin ’19, Anzhelika Nastashchuk ’20, Yifeng “Gloria” Pan ’20, Kasey Rice ’21, Jia Jun “Chris” Shen ’19, Miles Thornton-Sherman ’21, Yanze “Jason” Wang ’19, Xiaotong “Jessica” Wang ’19, Qiyu “Eliza” Wan ’21, Liang Zeou “David” Wei ’19, Qinnoa “Fiona” Wu ’21, Jianing Wu ’19, Qiongyin “Joey” Yan ’19, Xinyi “Monica” Xiong ’21, Leili Young-Xu’19; Luke Young-Xu ’21, Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu ’19, Han “Carrie” Zeng ’20, Tianshang “Calvin” Zhang ’19, Yiqi “Nick” Zhao ’20, Liang “Leo” Zhao ’20, Zhengyan “Henry” Zhang ’19, and Liyu “Ray” Zheng ’19.
The 海角论坛 teams and their results were as follows: Jesse Du, Joey Yan, and Leili聽Young-Xu聽placed first in Experimental Design; Will Haresch聽and Michael Chen聽placed first in Geologic Mapping; Leili聽Young-Xu聽and Gloria Pan聽placed first in Herpetology; Carlos Yu earned 1st place in Mousetrap Vehicle; and Luke聽Young-Xu聽and Jianing Wu placed first in Water Quality; Eliza聽Wan聽and Grace Li placed second in Anatomy and Physiology; Will聽Haresch聽and Kenny聽Achilles聽placed second in Astronomy; Kasey聽Rice聽and Carrie聽Zeng聽placed second 聽in Disease Detectives; Lanny聽Hao聽and David Wei placed second in Dynamic Planet; Anzhelica聽Nastashchuk聽and Sean聽Jang聽placed second in Mission Possible; Joey Yan and Jessie Du placed second in Sounds of Music; Kenny聽Achilles聽and Leo聽Zhao聽placed third in Circuit Lab; Myles聽Thornton-Sherman, Michael Chen, and David Wei place third in Codebusters; Grace Li聽and Nick聽Zhao placed third in Disease Detectives; Carlos Yu聽and Jianing Wu placed third in in Fermi Questions; Gloria聽Pan聽and Kasey聽Rice聽placed third in Geologic Mapping; Fiona Qinnuo聽and Monica聽Xiong聽placed third in Mission Possible; and Jessica Wang聽and Henry聽Zhang聽placed third in Water Quality.
The team’s coach, science faculty member Cristin Ashmankas, said, “I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of all our Science Olympians. These students put hundreds and hundreds of hours into their preparations and training, and it all paid off!”
Headmaster Tom Lovett said, “The number of medalists in this group of Olympians across a wide range of fields is impressive, and I am even more impressed with their commitment throughout the year.聽Congratulations to Ms. Ashmankas and all of the competitors!聽Their families should be very proud!”
