Fulton Science Academy Students Win First Place in Nationals

Congratulations to Mira Mutnick and Sophie Richardson for taking First Place in the Write It, Do It event at the National Science Olympiad Tournament held on May 21 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menominee, Wisconsin.

Write It, Do It is a technical writing event in which one team member is shown a 3-D structure composed of various materials and without touching the model must write a set of instructions on how to build it. The other team member is given these instructions and a set of unassembled materials to attempt to recreate the object as accurately as possible.

Science Olympiad Head Coach Gloria Stathos has been working with Mira on this event for the past three years and Sophie for two years. They began working as partners this year. “Write It, Do It is one of the more difficult events in ScienceOlympiad,” said Mrs. Stathos. “Students have no idea of the materials they will be given, have never seen the structure, and cannot touch the model to try and figure out how it is assembled. The structures at National Tournaments are notoriously complex and to place first is really a stellar accomplishment. For this event, both partners have to be at their best; you need both a good write and a good builder. Mira and Sophie were the perfect combination.”

In addition to being National Champions for Write It, Do It, Mira and Sophie were awarded third place medals for the Road Scholar event. Road Scholar is a mapping event, in which participants must be able to interpret and draw topographic, highway, and satellite maps. Mrs. Stathos also serves as coach for this event. “I’ve been coaching Road Scholar since 2003 and this was our first national medal for this event. Mira and Sophie really went above and beyond to prepare for this tournament and their hard work really paid off,” she said.

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 Vihan Karnala