FULTON SCIENCE ACADEMY SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAM PLACES 25TH AT NATIONAL

Nineteen members of the Fulton Science Academy Science Olympiad Team traveled to Menomonie, Wisconsin for the 32nd Annual National Science Olympiad Tournament. Students, coaches and parents endured and 18-hour charter bus ride to travel to and from the tournament, but the effort was well worth it. The tournament was hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stout and in addition to the competition, the school offered a variety of special STEM-themed events. Thursday evening was spent getting acclimated to the campus, meeting other Science Olympians, playing life-sized games, including Jenga, chess, Connect Four, Yahtzee, and Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and learning about exotic amphibians and reptiles. On Friday, students competed in several trial events and attended lectures on dairy science, the science of coffee, video game production, Babylonian Calculus, and a celebration of space movies. Some FSA students even had the opportunity to explore the cadaver lab!

Friday evening was the Opening Ceremonies beginning with the Parade of States. The FSA team’s theme was Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith with FSA students garbed in robes and armed with light sabers. Following the Opening Ceremonies, students met with other Science Olympians for a Swap Meet to trade items representing their team, hometown, or home state. Traditionally, each student’s goal is to come home with one of the cheeseheads worn by the Wisconsin teams. This year FSA students negotiated a team record five cheeseheads as the light sabers and robes were in high demand.

Saturday students awoke early to make final preparations for the competition. Students had been preparing for their events since September and were anxious to show their knowledge. FSA’s Rube-Goldberg device for Mission Possible performed flawlessly and Vihan Karnala and Andre Hamelberg were taken aside for an on-camera interview. The Air Trajectory device demonstrated by Christina Wang and Andre Hamelberg was able to make a “bucket shot” for extra points. While one of the Bottle Rockets launched by Andre Hamelberg and Jay Epstein misfired, the “egg passenger” survived without breaking. Overall, students found the tests challenging but enjoyable.

FSA students placed in the top twenty in 11 of the 23 events. Events and placements are as follows:


Write It, Do It – coached by Mrs. Stathos

1st Place – Mira Mutnick and Sophie Richardson



Road Scholar – coached by Mrs. Stathos

3rd Place – Mira Mutnick and Sophie Richardson



Crave the Wave – coached by Mr. Kersey

7th Place – Vihan Karnala and Holden Watson



Experimental Design – coached by Mrs. Stathos and Simon Wang

11th Place – Mira Mutnick, Sophie Richardson, and Sruthi Chatrathi



Fossils – coached by Ms. Beres

12th Place – Will Mutsch and Jay Epstein



Dynamic Planet – coached by Mrs. Walsh

16th Place – Mira Mutnick and Sophie Richardson



Picture This – coached by Ms. Fichter

16th Place – Avinash Pratap and Christina Wang



Wind Power – coached by Mr. Wang

16th Place – Christina Wang and Vihan Karnala



Invasive Species – coached by Mrs. Butler

17th Place – Will Mutsch and Avinash Pratap



Disease Detectives – coached by Mrs. Bhatt and Ms. Chirumamilla

20th Place – Akash Bhatt and Sruthi Chatrathi



Mission Possible – coached by Mr. Kersey

20th Place – Andre Hamelberg and Bihan Karnala