Science Olympiad is a club, but it’s more than just a club. Science Olympiad is one of the most fun competitions Chittenango has to offer—as team members would say. Science Olympiad has a total of 23 events, with different divisions for different grade levels. B Division is for middle school students, as well as students in districts with junior high schools—though there’s a limited number of 9th grade students allowed on B Division teams. C Division is the high school level, with students competing in grades 9-12. Only 7 seniors are allowed per team in C Division, if a school has more than 7 seniors competing, they need to compete on a separate team for their school. Most schools tend to have 1-3 teams, Chittenango has 1-2 teams depending on the year.
A student in 1999 started the team for Chittenango High School, as we had one for the middle school already. Mrs Carpenter is the teacher in charge of our high school team. Mrs Bennett was in charge of the middle school team for 32 years, but also helps out the high school team during Saturday practices and competitions. Several Chittenango students have participated in Science Olympiad.
I’ve conducted an interview with some of the members of teams from the previous years, as well as Mrs Carpenter.
Mrs Carpenter has been coaching the high school’s Science Olympiad team for the 27th season now. Her favorite memory from Science Olympiad is the first time the Chittenango high school team qualified for states. She says that the kids had been working for 7 years to qualify for states. The students had been in Science Olympiad since the 6th grade, and finally achieved their goal their senior year. Mrs Carpenter says that, “One thing you learn from in Science Olympiad is success comes from perseverance,” and she’s totally right! She also made another good point, to paraphrase: winning a gold medal in an event is not the end goal, it’s just a nice benefit. The real success in Science Olympiad is the time spent learning and researching for your event. When asked, “What’s your favorite event?” Mrs Carpenter responded with “Mission Possible.” When asked why, she responded, “You can work for 6 months on it, and on the day of the competition it doesn’t work, you’re still successful.” After all, the main idea of Science Olympiad is that success is the learning process. As Mrs Carpenter said, “The medals that hold the most value are the ones you work the hardest for.”
Izzy Vecchio, a junior at Chittenango High School—who’s also my sister—has been doing Science Olympiad since middle school. Her main events include helicopter—or flight depending on the year—and experimental design. She has won a total of 8 medals over the years, including two 1st place medals. Her favorite medal she earned was her 1st place in flight. When asked what she likes about Science Olympiad, she responded, “I met people that actually enjoyed the same things as me.” She also mentioned her love for Saturday practices. When asked what she likes about them she said, “Hot chocolate on Saturdays” and “Mrs Bennett and Carp’s food is really good.” Both are amazing cooks and bakers. When asked about the competitions, Izzy had this to say, “One thing I DON’T enjoy is walking down the hill to the gym at LeMoyne because it’s January and there’s a lot of snow.” Which is justified, honestly.
Sophia Lalor, a junior at Chittenango High School, has been doing Science Olympiad since the 7th grade, in the B Division. She’s won a few medals in various events over the years. Lalor does many events, and doesn’t really have a “main” event like most team members do. Lalor stated that she had a love/hate relationship with experimental design. Lalor did not do Science Olympiad last year, but hopes to return to it. When asked what she thinks about Science Olympiad, she had this to say, “Science Olympiad is the thing that you go into not expecting much, but then you realize it’s actually a ton of fun and a great experience overall.” One memory she’s quite fond of was the Mac and cheese, courtesy of Mrs Bennett at a competition her freshman year.
Chance Lenning, a junior at Chittenango High School, has been doing Science Olympiad for several years. He has participated in events such as Robot Tours, Tower, Codebusters, and many others. His favorite event is Robot Tours, which he’s won 2 gold medals for. Chance joined Science Olympiad his freshman year. His favorite memory of Science Olympiad is when the team went out to Tully’s after a competition his freshman year. Mrs Carpenter introduced Chance to Science Olympiad during summer golf practice, and Chance says, “I’ve been hooked since.”
Jaymes Ronalds, a sophomore at Chittenango High School, says that Science Olympiad is a, “Great way to experience all kinds of science and it will form everlasting memories.” When asked, “What do you like about Science Olympiad?” He responded with, “Going out to different schools, and competing against other schools.” As for events, Jaymes competed in the Electric Vehicle and Fossils. He won medals for both of them at LeMoyne. At FM he won a medal for Electric Vehicle, but not a medal in fossils.
Science Olympiad is truly a great experience for anyone who participates in it. The team mates are nice, the teachers will help out whenever you need it, and its a lot of fun!
