EMMS Girl Scout Cadette Turns Silver Award Project into Gold

Shivani Varia, an 8th grader at Ellicott Mills Middle School and Girl Scout Cadette from Troop 1971 put together a STEM focused Silver Award project, by forming a Maryland Science Olympiad competition team at her middle school. Maryland Science Olympiad is a K-12 science program including rigorous academic interscholastic tournaments.

She pitched the idea in the fall of 2018 to her middle school principal who was supportive of the idea and helped her find a team coach from among the EMMS staff. Shivani led an informational meeting and formed a team of five students. In January, the students started practicing twice a week for an hour. In February, the small but motivated team of 5 students went to the Science Olympiad middle school regional competitions held at Montgomery College where 44 teams from Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties competed against one another.. Shivani participated in the Write it! Build It! event in which one team member details the materials and methodology needed to build a prototype – and the other team member – without seeing the prototype – builds it using his or her partner’s instructions.

The EMMS students and staff sponsors were pleasantly surprised and proud when their anatomy and physiology team members placed fourth in their category. Shivani and her event partner Laila Peterson, also a Girl Scout Cadette, were hopeful that they would earn a medal by placing as one of the top six teams for their event but as other school names were called out and displayed on the big screen at the front of the auditorium, they consoled themselves with the fact that they at least had the chance to participate and compete. And then, as the first place team was announced and EMMS flashed up on screen, Shivani’s silver award turned to gold – as in the gold medal awarded to first place winners.

Shivani has put together a presentation about how to form a science olympiad team and is willing to come speak to school administrators and at Howard County PTA meetings to share her experience with parents (and teachers). Email emmsscienceolympiad@gmail.com for for more information.