Yet another competition season for the Clinton High School Science Olympiad Varsity Team has concluded with immense success.
This past Saturday, March 19, 2016, the team traveled to Lenoir Community College in Kinston for the regional competition. The CHS team members, coached by Alvin Antonio, worked diligently during and after school many hours up until the day of competition.
The CHS team competed on the varsity level against 19 other schools in the Division C, or high school, category. In various sessions on Saturday morning and afternoon, the team competed in a total of 23 events. At the awards ceremony, the team received 10 total awards out of their events, including: first place in Duct Tape Challenge, second place in Write It, Do It, third place in Disease Detectives, third place in Astronomy, third place in Amazing Mechatronics, fourth place in Air Trajectory, fourth place in Forensics, fourth place in Fossils, fourth place in Invasive Species, and fourth place in Wind Power.
Of these events, four were building events requiring construction of a physical device for the competition, and six were skills events requiring a written test or hands-on competing in a laboratory or station-to-station format. For example, Duct Tape Challenge was one of the building events, and Disease Detectives was one of the skills events.
CHS team members who received awards on Saturday are: Alex Hales, Amaya Apolinario, Lauryn Worley, Lindy Bustabad, Lukas Jerez, Marcos Resendiz, Nicole Spell, Parker Johnson, Thomas Paniagua, and Tina Moore. After the judges calculated the total numbers of awards each of the 19 schools received, the CHS team placed 6th overall out of all attending schools for the regional competition. The team left Kinston with great pride and a sense of accomplishment, excited to start preparing for next year’s competition. The CHS team will be losing several seniors this year, and they will be dearly missed during the 2016-2017 competition season, including: Anna Emmanuel, Edgar Valle, Kala King, Nicole Spell, Thomas Paniagua, and Tina Moore.