Utica Community Schools teams excel in science, social studies and math Olympiads

Utica Community School students took top spots in three recent competitions that require students to collaborate on a series of academic challenges that test their science, math and social studies skills.

UCS students took top finishes at all levels of the Macomb County Science Olympiad, earned more than 130 awards at a statewide Social Studies Olympiad and competed in a local competition of the Math Olympiad.

“The success of Utica Community Schools teams in these academic competitions demonstrate how competitive our students remain at all levels,” said Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns. “The tournaments reinforce our classroom work to promote student achievement and the essential job skills of collaboration and creativity.”

For the Macomb Science Olympiad, UCS teams took first and second places at all three levels – elementary, junior high school and high school.

At the elementary level, UCS teams earned the top five finishes and eight of the top ten spots at the Macomb County Science Olympiad, which featured teams from Macomb and St. Clair counties.

At the secondary level, two UCS teams earned the top two spots at the junior high school and high school regional competition in March.

Science Olympiad is a national competition that challenge students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

The hands-on competition challenges students to work in teams to research and create projects related to genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology.

For example, an elementary challenge called “Bridging the Gap” provides students a mystery bag of materials to build a bridge as long as possible that will support the weight of a tennis ball.

Each activity is scored by judges and the school with the best score earns the top spot.

This year, UCS elementary teams placed among the top finishers at the May 20 competition held at Macomb Community College.

Placing in the top 10 were:

• Messmore Elementary – first
• Morgan Elementary – second
• Roberts Elementary – Third
• Schwarzkoff Elementary – Fourth
• Crissman Elementary – Fifth
• Flickinger Elementary – Seventh
• Beacon Tree Elementary – Ninth
• Switzer Elementary – Tenth

At the secondary competition in March, UCS teams captured the top spots in both the junior high and senior high levels.

At the junior high level, Davis Junior High School placed first and Heritage Junior High placed second. At the senior level, Stevenson High School finished in first and Eisenhower placed second.

For the Social Studies Olympiad, UCS teams earned 130 top honors in the statewide competition.

UCS students earned 33 Gold Medals, 41 Silver Medals, 28 Bronze Medals and 28 Honorable Mentions at the annual Michigan Social Studies Olympiad, held May 13 at Center Line High School.

The 2017 Olympiad theme was “Remember the Ladies: Women’s Achievements, Leaders, and Causes.”

Participating UCS teams were from Beacon Tree, Beck, Browning, Burr, Crissman, Ebeling, Eppler, Graebner, Morgan, Oakbrook, Plumbrook, Schwarzkoff, Switzer and Wiley elementary schools, Davis Junior High School and Stevenson High School.

Nearly 80 schools from across Michigan participated in the competition.

Locally, nearly 260 fourth through sixth graders gathered May 4 to take part an annual UCS Math Competition.

The local competition mirrors the national Math Olympiad tournament, requiring students to complete higher-level math problems in individual and team competitions.

More than 50 teams took part in three different competitions, including a jeopardy-like tournament that rounded out the night.

Students and teams earning top finishes this year were:

• Individual Event: Shayan Matin, first place; Naveen Natarajan, second place; and Graham Barash, third place.
• Quiz Bowl: Messmore Team A and Schuchard Team A, first place tie; Duncan Team A and Morgan Team A, second place tie; and Havel Team A and Wiley Team A, third place tie.
• Team Event: Beck Team A, first place; Schuchard Team C, second place; and Wiley Team A, third place.
• Overall Tournament Champions: Messmore Team A, first place; Beck Team A, second place; and Schuchard Team A, third place.

Source - Utica Community Schools

Dr. Christine Johns, Superintendent of Schools

http://www.uticak12.org