The Oak Park High School Science Olympiad team competed in their regional competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara on March 11

“It was amazing to see everyone’s work pay off because lots of people were placing in their events,” junior Kavya Sreeraj said. 

Students are placed into groups of up to 15 and compete in events that cover biology, science, physics, technology, engineering and much more. Events consist of various activities such as hands-on building or taking a test. 

“Science Olympiad is a competition that we prepare for that usually happens in early March,” junior Sahana Sri said. “It’s composed of a bunch of different events that span pretty much every STEM topic.”

Two teams from OPHS competed at regionals placing second and third respectively.

“I think it’s a really great program because everyone gets 2-3 events to compete in, which means they can really get into topics that they like or explore new ones that seem interesting”, Sri said. 

According to the National Science Olympiad Organization, “Science Olympiad is an international non-profit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers.”

“Even though we didn’t get first, the effort everyone put in clearly showed in their results,” sophomore Jake Calafati said. “We are super proud of how we did this year, and are prepared to get first next year.”