The SAR HS Science Olympiad team won the championship at the recent Yeshiva League Science Olympiad competition. Over one hundred and fifty students from 11 Jewish high schools in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area competed in 12 events. SAR took first place in four events and second place in four events.
“It was exciting to see our students excel in events that go beyond the traditional high school curriculum, such as botany,” says Dr. Qiao Feng, AP Bio teacher and event organizer. “Without formal instruction from teachers, they learned these subjects largely on their own. Their success in these areas highlights their outstanding self-motivation and problem-solving skills.”
“This is my third year competing for SAR,” says Daniel S. “Every year I look forward to emptying my big yellow binder and filling it with copious amounts of information on topics completely new to me: volcano types, plate tectonic history, glacier movements, rock bed analysis, highly specific road map reading skills, and earthquake measuring techniques.”
The students on the team worked hard to prepare and spent a whole day at the Olympiad. The competition was intense. Their stellar performance demonstrated passion, intelligence and dedication. Special thanks to Dr. Feng and Ms. Rina Auerbach for working with the team as the competition approached and helping out at the event.
Members of the winning team include: Elijah R., Audrey A., Daniel S., Asher W., Aryeh H., Abby G., Eytan R., Rowen H., Aron K., Aderet B., Tovah S., Jordanna G., Adeev C., Amalia G. and Jed S. Each member of the team played a critical role in getting the Gold trophy for the team. Go Sting!!
SAR students took home many medals for their respective events. Gold Medals: Botany—Rowen H., Asher W.; Dynamic Planet—Daniel S., Abby G.; Entomology—Jed S., Asher W.; Microbe Mission—Abby G., Aron K. Silver Medals: Codebusters—Aron K., Adeev C., Audrey A.; Ecology—Aryeh H., Amalia G.; Road Scholar—Daniel S., Elijah R.; Write It Do It—Amalia G., Aderet B.
“The format of Science Olympiad really encourages team collaboration,” says Daniel S. “Each competition features two or three teammates who study together and work through the tests together. In addition, the overall scoring system weighs a school’s high- and low-performing teams equally, so it encourages everyone to give their best and feel like part of a united effort. It’s such an honor to use my interests both to compete for SAR and to connect to students from other schools over the niche topics we spent hours researching.”
Adds Rowan H., “Science Olympiad was such a great opportunity. It was nice to be surrounded by Jewish kids who are also interested in STEM, and I had a lot of fun participating in my event and cheering on my SAR teammates.”
