With all the clubs and groups at the high school, one seems to go unrecognized: Science Olympiad. Science Olympiad is a group of students passionate about science and competing against schools across the state. They participate in tests and challenges for the chance to win a medal for their school.
This year, a couple things have changed as the team had two new coaches and a significant amount of new students. Chemistry and Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher Charissa Kashian is one of the newest coaches.
“It’s like track and field but for science,” Kashian said. “We have all these different events that we can participate in, and the students can participate in any sect of science. They’re not something you generally learn about in school, so it’s all areas of science including ‘building events.’”
Computer science teacher Danielle Rose is the second new coach this year. The previous coaches were former teacher Brian Hendricks and biology teacher Kris Walendzik. Hendricks transferred to Northview Next and Walendzik chose to stick to teaching. The science olympiads this year were lucky to have two young teachers eager to fill the void. Adjusting to the new change has been an exciting process for Rose.
“The opportunity to be a coach has been super cool,” Rose said. “I’m so excited for next year. We already have some ideas of what we’re gonna do and what we’re gonna change.”
Each member of the team will compete in their own events with one or two partners. They will either take tests to compete for the highest score or create machines to do a certain task. Each student may individually win medals, and the team as a whole will be scored based on that. The team this year won medals in two events: ‘bridges’ and ‘rocks and minerals.’
Science Olympiad vice-president junior Faith Vandenburg has been a part of Science Olympiad since fifth grade at Chandler Woods Charter Academy. As a freshman, she joined Northview’s program and describes it as a welcoming experience.
“Science Olympiad is a place to expand your friend circle,” Vandenburg said. “I have talked to so many more people than I normally would have.”
The number of kids that participated this year was enough for two teams, which has historically not been the case.
“The kids consistently showed a lot of growth,” Rose said. “We had 20 kids at one point, which is enough for two teams. But the good thing is that [coaches] don’t have to know more about the events than the kids. We just have to support them in gathering the knowledge.”
Science Olympiad is unique because each event is specific and specialized to different areas of science. Anyone who shows any interest about any topic ranging from rocks and minerals to anatomy and physiology can find a passion in Science Olympiad.
“As a [science] teacher, you notice that not every student loves science,” Kashian said. “So I think it’s fun to work and coach students who truly love science. The events are so specialized. As a coach, you get to teach things that you don’t normally get to teach about.”
Many students may not have even heard of this group. It is not often that a person will hear of someone winning a medal in one of the science events. One of the reasons for the lack of recognition is the peer pressure that is exhibited at the high school.
“There’s so many different social pressures in high school where you have to act a certain way or be a certain way,” Rose said. “But in Science Olympiad, all of that is stripped and the kids can be themselves.”
Anyone can have fun in Science Olympiad as long as they put in hard work and responsibility. Just like any sport, it requires determination and being willing to make mistakes.
“It’s really fun to teach chemistry to those who are really excited to learn chemistry,” Kashian said. “It’s really fun and rewarding, especially when kids do really good in competitions. All their effort pays off.”
