They have been seen carrying large boxes of chocolate and have been bombarded by students intent on buying their wares. However, these students are not just selling candy for the heck of it; they are part of a club that had once been cut from the activities a student could take part in, but this year, they are back and stronger than ever. Neuqua Valley once again welcomes the Science Olympiad team back to the already abundant list of extracurricular activities.
Rewind to the fall of 1999 when the Science Olympiad team was first introduced to the roster of after-school activities a student could take part in. Now fast forward to 2005 when the club was cut after a re-evaluation by club and activity sponsors. It was during this time that it was determined that the interest students had in the Science Olympiad team had severely declined due to students becoming more heavily involved in other extracurriculars. The membership in the club was not fulfilling the commitment a club needed to field an entire team. Sponsors decided they could not justify a reason to continue the club and with a heavy heart, the Science Olympiad team was disbanded, but members and sponsors remained hopeful. “We disbanded with the hope that it could one day be resurrected!” said assistant coach and science teacher, Paula Mueller, who was also a sponsor when the club was first introduced. Well, the time has come.
Now return to the present, and the Science Olympiad team is no longer a club where interest from students dwindles. It is now a major activity with over 60 people, a JV and Varsity team, and positions for captains, club officers, as well as leadership positions. “We’ve outgrown science rooms and now have to meet as a large group in the one of the forum rooms!” added head coach, Katherine Ricca. To put the numbers in better perspective, other schools in the area have teems made up of fifteen to twenty people at the most. This means that this new and improved team is over three times larger in size. No longer can anyone say that this club has too little interest to survive.
“Students are taking ownership of the team,” said Ricca. “They are the ones who are coming up with the ideas and are doing a great job at setting the pace as well as the expectations.” Finding proper funding is no longer a problem for the team either. The Science Olympiad team did not do a lot of fundraising in the past, but with more members, the team can now successfully hold their own fundraisers. The first fundraiser for the team this year was selling candy bars to help pay for the competition fees as well as obtaining the necessary supplies for the events the team will take part in. Currently, the team is in need of bass and balsa wood, an engine, with certain specifications, field guides, and the list stretches on.
The team participates in regional events, and it is the success at the regional level which determines whether or not the team, or individuals, will be able to compete at the state level. These competitions are events that involve scientific reasoning skills, engineering skills, lab skills, and scientific facts. At the regional events, the team will be competing in twenty three different events, including building bridges, launching rockets, making a money sorter out of common items, building an electric vehicles, and even science Pictionary to list just a few. The club is open to any students on any level of science who want to expand their love of science, become a part of a team, and have interests outside of the normal science curriculum the school offers. “Science Olympiad is open to students interested in science at any level who is willing to put in the time and effort,” said Ricca. “We’d love to see new students out for next year’s team.”
By Hong-Ah Do, staff writer
