At OPHS, Science Olympiad is among one of the many clubs accessible to students. The club encourages students to apply their scientific knowledge across a range of topics.

“I would describe the science olympiad as a club that goes to tournaments and competes through different events,” Historian, sophomore Claire Kim said. “In particular, there are three categories for events. These are test events, build events, and hybrid events.  Test events consist of just taking a test, while a build event would consist of the building of a contraption for testing. Hybrid events are a mix of these two, where there is a build portion and a test portion in one event.”

Science Olympiad includes a wide variety of events that test both head knowledge and practical skill. Students can expect to compete in subjects ranging from anatomy all the way to environmental science. Events are split into building events and testing events, both require problem solving skills and test students’ understanding of science. 

“My favorite event to compete in was Write It Do It in eighth grade, because it was so fun to build things just based on descriptions and make up our own terms for communicating,” Kim said. “I also did it with one of my best friends, so it was super fun having our own little inside jokes.”

For many, competing in a Science Olympiad tournament can be both challenging and exciting. The atmosphere is extremely supportive and some events require collaboration among teammates. 

“It’s truly one of my favorite experiences ever,” Kim said. “The feeling of waking up at dawn to go to the college campus the tournament is being held at is unparalleled. Since you usually only have a few events, the rest of the time is spent wandering around the campus. A lot of my core memories come from participating in these tournaments. Even if you don’t win a medal, you will most definitely have fun at the tournament”

Even in the heat of competitions the atmosphere is still positive; this combination of encouragement and competition is what makes the Science Olympiad team so compelling to many. 

“Honestly, I joined mostly because my friend was in it,” Kim said. “But through Science Olympiad, I made lots of memories, and made lots of friends.  I still learn a lot from it, and it is great having a little community that is as passionate about science as I am.”

As the team continues to grow, students are encouraged to get more involved regardless of their experience level.

For many people, public speaking is one of the most intimidating things to master. But at OPHS, students challenge themselves to turn that fear into confidence. The OPHS Speech and Debate team gives students an outlet to express theirselves and hone their public speaking skills. 

“I would say the main goal of debate is to develop effective communication skills, critical thinking and build the ability to respond to your opponent in a respectful way,” debate mentor and sophomore Shivangi Singh said. “The point isn’t necessarily always about winning arguments, but more about doing the absolute best that you can in any tournament you compete in and learning from the experience.”

Though this may be challenging, Singh said it taught her to think on her feet. Joining the OPHS Debate team allowed her to push personal boundaries and gain experience in public speaking.  

“I joined the Debate Club primarily to push myself and gain more experiences in public speaking,” Singh said. “At my old school, I was a part of the Speech and Debate club, yet I avoided any debates due to my fear of how fast you needed to think on your feet. Since then, I have continued to challenge myself and grow confident in my public speaking abilities.”

However, the hardest part of debate isn’t crafting arguments, it’s staying calm while thinking on your feet. Maintaining composure during debates may be tough but these challenges are what make debate so rewarding.

“I believe the most difficult part of debate is the ability to think clearly and swiftly under pressure. You’re required to respond to your opponent logically and take in a lot of information, all while maintaining calmness and professionalism,” Singh said. “It can definitely be quite challenging. However, these challenges are what make debate such a valuable experience. You build confidence and critical thinking skills.” 

Competing in topics ranging from policy and Lincoln-Douglas, OPHS’ Debate team builds expertise in a plethora of subjects. As a result, the OPHS Debate team saw all of this effort pay off at last year’s novice debate tournaments, performing so well that they faced each other in the final round. 

“My most memorable moment from a debate competition occurred during last year’s novice tournament,” Singh said. “As we were nearing the end of the day, we were waiting for our final round to drop. We found out that Oak Park had performed so well in the previous rounds that we actually had to debate against each other.

OPHS’ Speech team is no different when it comes to pushing boundaries in public speaking. Throughout the year the OPHS Speech team is given opportunities to learn different styles of speech such as Original Oriatory or Dramatic Interpretation. 

“Speech and Debate usually runs year long, starting in the fall and ending in the spring. Throughout the season, students attend various tournaments and compete against other schools,” Novice Sophomore Srinithi Peripydi said. “Between competitions, we spend time practicing, revising, and getting feedback from mentors and teammates.” 

Unlike debate, students are given the liberty to choose their own topics that reflect their interests. 

“It’s recommended that students pick ideas that they’re passionate about or issues that matter to them personally,” Peripydi said. “Some get ideas from current events or news outlets, while others gain inspiration from books, movies, or even social media.”

Although speech is based on individual performance, OPHS’ speech team is cultivated by collaboration and support. Students spend hours refining their speeches, sharing feedback, and supporting each other.

“My favorite part about being in Speech is the community. I love how every teammate brings a new and entirely different thing to the table. It makes each person’s speech unique and interesting, and allows us to learn from each other,” Peripydi said. “Additionally, everyone is so welcoming and supportive, and we all help each other improve.”

Ultimately, Speech and Debate is just as much about personal growth as it is about competition, and those who embrace its challenges find it to be an extremely rewarding activity.

When it comes to competition, OPHS’ Hackathon Society provides the stepping stone needed for aspiring coders. The club strengthens students’ coding and technical skills, giving them the chance to collaborate on creative projects and compete in real life hackathons.

For students unfamiliar with hackathons, they are fast-paced coding challenges, where participants have a limited amount of time, typically up to 48 hours, to design a software project that targets a specific issue.

“A hackathon is a coding competition,” president and sophomore Jyoshita Nair said. “You are giving a prompt such as ‘Environmental Protection’ and you need to code a solution. You are given a certain timeframe to achieve this, and you are judged on appearance, functionality, creativity and other stuff.  They can be online or in person, and are a great way to test your coding skills. They can also be for a variety of coding experiences and interests.”

Hackathons are typically team based events with this comes a great sense of community among club members. The idea is to essentially stimulate a real world tech development where people of different skill sets come together and create. 

“I wanted to start a coding club for people that was more competitive. In our school I saw many clubs where you learn how to code, and not that many clubs where you apply that coding knowledge,” Nair said. “That is why I created the Hackathon Society, where you can learn how to code and apply that knowledge in tournaments.” 

Beyond coding and competitions, the Hackathon Society is working to build a strong community around students passionate about technology and problem solving. Nair hopes to make coding less daunting for newcomers and challenge all students to keep on learning. 

“The Hackathon Society is a club for people of all coding experience. We participate in hackathons, or coding competitions,” Nair said. “The main goal is to strengthen everyone’s coding abilities and participate in fun tournaments. We also want to teach everyone something new, even if you already have coding experience.”

The club welcomes any students and meetings are held every Tuesday at lunch in E-8. 

“On a typical day, first, we go over possible tournaments. Then, we learn how to code with languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,” Nair said.

The USA Biology Olympiad team attracts some of OPHS’ aspiring biologists. In USABO, students spend months preparing to attend one of the most prestigious biology testing programs. 

“USABO Club is a place for students who really love biology and want to go beyond what we learn in class,” president and junior Gaurish Vyas said. “We dive into advanced topics, work through challenging problems and prepare for the USA Biology Olympiad together. It’s a mix of learning, teamwork and just geeking out over cool bio stuff.”

For students new to the competition, USABO serves as a pathway for high school students to become part of the USA Biolympiad Team. The test is offered every year and the club encourages students who have an interest in biology to join. 

“We go through past exams, review key topics and explain tough concepts as a group. Sometimes we do short review sessions or have members present on certain areas, which helps everyone learn from each other,” Vyas said. “It’s a very supportive environment where everyone’s goal is to improve and help others do the same.”

This year, the club’s main goal is to help members prepare for the USABO Open Exam while maintaining a fun and welcoming environment to any newcomers. 

“This year, we’re focused on helping everyone prepare for the USABO Open Exam while also building a strong, collaborative environment. We want members to really understand the material and to enjoy learning biology together,” Vyas said. “We’re also hoping to bring in new members and make the club more active overall.”

Looking to the future, Vyas hopes to expand the club’s reach to more students eager about exploring biology. The club meets in H-05 once a month and is open to all students who are interested.

“I’d love to see the club continue to grow and maybe even start hosting events or workshops to get more people interested in biology. It’d be great to have more students participate in the Olympiad each year and build a strong tradition of biology excellence at our school.”

Another notable club at OPHS is Model United Nations. Model UN gives students the opportunity to step into the shoes of global diplomats. This club is a mix of research, public speaking, and teamwork with students representing different countries and debating some of the world’s most prominent issues.

“Model UN competitions are at different universities throughout the year. At those competitions, you’re basically given the role of a diplomat. You have to act like a diplomat of a country to solve certain issues that your committee’s talking about,” President and senior Royce Willis said. “You have to be able to give good speeches, but most importantly it’s about making groups with other countries that think like you and working together to make the world better like actual diplomats.” 

Before attending each conference, delegates are tasked with researching their respective countries and writing what’s known as a position paper which outlines their nation’s stance on certain topics. 

“The thing that you have to do is write what’s called the position paper. That’s like three pages on the background of the topic and what your country wants to do. It’s also good to make maps or print out maps of the region or research which countries think similar to you,” Willis said. “Some people also write speeches beforehand. I prefer just making maps, just doing the easiest stuff and then doing a lot of the improv in the conference.”

One of the most valuable things that come from Model UN is the team dynamic. Students build real world skills through collaboration with others while also honing their public speaking skills.

“It gives a lot of good skills. I would say the biggest one that I learned is working together with other people, you have your country and you find other countries who think similarly to you, and you have to kind of coordinate a group,” Willis said. “Although, of course, there’s public speaking and knowledge on these issues that affect the world today.”

The club meets every Wednesday in F-06 for any students interested.

“I think everyone should join, I would say don’t be scared about the competitions that end up being really fun, and you learn a lot of new things,” Willis said.
”At worst, it’s just a weekend at, like, UCLA or USA.”