After months of preparation, Oak Park High School’s Science Olympiad Team finally got to show off their hard work last weekend at UC Santa Barbara. After spending the day competing against four other schools in the region, Oak Park secured first place and a spot in April’s state competition for the first time in eight years. The team had a solid lead, scoring 26 points ahead of second place, Westlake High School.
In order to prepare for the annual regional competition held every year in March, students diligently prepare their events, whether that be a build or test event. Ultimately, the team that consistently places the highest number of times will advance to the state competition.
“Build events are when we build something before and then test it for them [the judges] to see what it’s done,” Lippincott said. “Then there are test events where we have either pairs of students or trios of students go into a room and then they get tested on something.”
On the day of competition, students drive out to the UCSB campus, eager to show off their hard work.
“We prepare students to do a lot of it outside of class,” Lippincott continued. “I’m hoping for our next competition, which is our state competition in April, we can really have more meetings a week and start nailing down exactly where our weaknesses are.”
Though Lippincott serves as an advisor, it’s truly the students who make everything happen.
“A lot of it is student-driven,” Lippincott said, “so it’s very impressive that we were able to get first place, solely under the efforts of students.”
Navya Garg, Science Olympiad co-president, is in charge of organizing the team and raising team spirit.
“My favorite part of competition day is the collaboration and team spirit,” Garg wrote. “Since August, we have all been working on three to four events, and at competitions, it is really nice to meet other people and share ideas about different builds or topics. Plus, it is always nice to scream as loud as possible at the awards ceremony as we cheer on all our teammates.”
The team has much to work on as they prepare for state. With all the excitement and uncertainty that lies in the next month, one thing they can all count on is each other.
“I am constantly relying on members of the board, and our trophy was a group victory because if everyone had not shown up, we probably wouldn’t have won,” Garg said.
Their commitment to collaboration and their dedication to science has turned this underdog student-led team into SciOly champs. With new goals ahead of them and more regular meetings, the team is sure to be successful at State, which will be held at CalTech April 12.
