This past weekend, Harlan Rowe Middle School participated in the Pennsylvania State Science Olympiad competition. Thirty-six teams from across the state gathered to compete in 23 different science themed competitions, with the top two teams earning the right to represent Pennsylvania at the National Tournament on May 24th at the University of Nebraska.
The day started off guardedly when Harlan Rowe’s balsa helicopter previously capable of up to two minutes of flight had a disastrous 10 second flight, placing 26th out of 36. This was followed up with the Optics competition where an ill placed mirror scored 0 points. It was going to take a team effort to overcome these early obstacles.
Soon the team found their stride, with the Air Trajectory event scoring a near personal best finishing 2nd, and a perfect score in Experimental Design nabbing 1st. Codebusters, Fossils, Metric Mastery, Mission Possible, Wind Power and Scrambler also secured first place finishes.
“When things started to go bad early, the team just didn’t quit,” said Head Coach John Slocum. “Science Olympiad is very much a team sport, and everyone buckled down and knew that there wasn’t any more room for errors.” he added, and that’s exactly what they did.
Though Optics had a misplaced mirror, they managed to do well enough on the testing portion to finish 6th. Out of the 23 events, Harlan Rowe secured medals in all but Helicopter making it truly a team effort.
In the end, it was a very tense award ceremony but the Wildcats managed to earn that second-place spot and secure their trip to Nationals. They will be traveling to Lincoln later next month and have begun fundraising efforts to pay for their trip. To donate, click here.
Here is a complete list of the medalists:
1st Place:
Codebusters – Allyson Rowe, Caroline Johnson, Katyayini Kinthala,
Experimental Design – Katyayini Kinthala, Lilah Carlson, Samantha Smith
Fossils – Basil Leonard, Gavin Ross
Metric Mastery – Katyayini Kinthala, Lilah Carlson
Mission Possible – Gavin Ross, Lilah Carlson
Scrambler – Gavin Jennings, Johnny Roberts
Wind Power – Colton Jennings, Jordan Lattimer
2nd Place:
Air Trajectory – Colton Jennings, Joshua Karakala
Dynamic Planet – Johnny Roberts, Samantha Smith
Ecology – Basil Leonard, Joshua Karakala
Reach for the Stars – Johnny Roberts, Samantha Smith
3rd Place:
Anatomy and Physiology – Allyson Rowe, Katyayini Kinthala
Road Scholar – Colton Jennings, Joshua Karakala
Tower – Celeus Gigee, Katyayini Kinthala
4th Place:
Crime Busters – Jordan Lattimer, Samantha Smith
Microbe Mission – Allyson Rowe, Joshua Karakala
6th Place:
Entomology – Basil Leonard, Kota Hunsinger
Optics – Gavin Ross, Johnny Roberts
8th Place:
Meteorology – Allyson Rowe, Basil Leonard
Potions and Poisons – Brianna Ndegwa, Samantha Smith
10th Place:
Disease Detectives – Brianna Ndegwa, Kota Hunsinger
Write It Do It – Katyayini Kinthala, Lilah Carlson
