“Working with motivated students that are interested in science is always a pleasure.” – Mr. Richter

“It was fun, that’s really all I can say, it was just really fun,” said sophomore, Justin Pierce. On Wednesday March 18, GLSH Students, sophomores; Brandon He, Anna Hu, Hannah Sherid, Zachary Malone, Yishe Lui, Luke Conrad, Harry Witte, Justin Pierce; juniors, Taylor Sigut and Tiffany Diaz, and seniors; David WIlson and Joey Marcinek competed at Science Olympiad, a competition that challenges students to expand their knowledge of science, create different projects and exhibit them, and compete against students from other schools.

The events included Air Trajectory, Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy, Bridge Building, Bungee Drop, Cell Biology, Chemistry Lab, Compound Machines, Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Entomology, Experimental Design, Forensics, Fossils, Geologic Mapping, Green Generation, Hydrogeology, It’s About Time, Mission Possible, Protein Modeling, Scrambler, Technical Problem Solving, Wright Stuff, and Write It Do It.

Two Divisions competed from Greater Latrobe, Division B, from the Junior High and Division C, from the Senior High. “It is great to see students coming from the Junior High who are already familiar with the event and interested in participating in the Science Olympiad at the Senior High,” said team leader, Mr. Richter.

Richter thoroughly enjoyed being the team’s coach. “Working with motivated students that are interested in science is always a pleasure,” said Richter.
Students can benefit greatly from the experience, it provides a strong team building experience, an opportunity to learn new things, and a chance to build strong bonds with peers that you might not have been able to associate with before. “Students benefit from the Science Olympiad by learning more about science topics that pique their interest. This helps students narrow their search for a college major and possible future career,” said Richter.

Overall, the event was a success with juniors Taylor Sigut and Tiffany Diaz winning 4th place in their event “Mission Possible”, sophomores Justin Pierce and Zachary Malone in 3rd place for their event “Hydrogeology”, sophomore Justin Pierce and Brandon He with 4th place for “Green Generation”, sophomore Brandon McGannon in 2nd place for his work in “Scrambler”, and sophomores Hannah Sherid and Anna Hu in 2nd place for their work with the “Bungee Drop”.

“Both the Junior and Senior High teams did a great job. I was especially impressed with the vehicle that Brandon McGannon built for the event entitled “Scrambler”. Brandon built a wooden car that could be quickly calibrated to transport a raw egg a distance decided by the event supervisor. His hard work paid off, as Brandon took second place in this event,” said Richter.

The team had frequent meetings to prepare for the competition after school on Fridays. They prepared what they could with the members who showed up. “All teams can always do more in preparing for the events. Next year I hope to see students start building devices earlier so we can participate in all of the “build ahead” events,” said Richter.