Within five short years, the Fossil Ridge High School Science Olympiad team has grown tremendously. Started in 2011 by Ms. Vigil (and later co-sponsored by Mr. Dannahower), the team went from placing seventeenth at the regionals competition their first year, to winning both the regional and state competitions in 2014 and receiving second in state in this year. With over twenty events involving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics, Science Olympiad is the next step in enhancing a student’s scientific educational background.
Based on national regulations, Fossil’s Science Olympiad is split into four teams, with about fifteen students on each. Two or three students from each team are involved in a single event (a single student has about three events) and compete together after months of preparation. In order for students to learn and practice their event, teachers, parents, and subject experts volunteer to coach these students about once a week for five or six months during the school year.
Topics span all forms of science, including astronomy, anatomy, chemistry, archaeology, biology, robot building, and ecological sustainability. Different events have different requirements, whether they are that the students take a test to demonstrate their wide range of knowledge on a subject, perform a lab, or build or demonstrate their already built model, such as a wind turbine, within a designated amount of time. The need for an in-depth knowledge of specific science fields requires students to spend countless hours learning about and studying for their events. The skills they gain go far beyond the reach of a typical high school science course.
One event, Chem Lab, covers AP Chemistry ideas, even though many FRHS participants in this particular event are freshmen who are just now taking General Chemistry. Because of this, the work that students put in assists them in their academic lives, broadening their knowledge and giving them the skills they need to be successful in science classes. It also shows them real-world application of scientific ideas, allowing them to discuss big ideas with college professors and get a look at careers they want to pursue in the future.
Natalie Spencer, an avid member, said “It has helped me discover so many things that I would never have learned in class and inspired me to choose a career in science – something that I would never have considered beforehand.” Spencer has extensive Anatomy knowledge due to her seven years of involvement in Science Olympiad. “Everyone that does Science Olympiad is committed to learning – it’s an awesome place to make friends with the same passion for science” said Spencer.
The regional competition will take place on March 5, 2016 and the state competition is at Colorado School of Mines on April 16, 2016. Anyone is welcome to join, even if they have not taken many science classes at FRHS or been involved with in the club before.
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