Pleasantville Middle School's Science Olympiad Team Competed in NYS Tournament

In March, the team - with about half of its members new to Science Olympiad - placed first for the second consecutive year at the Lower Hudson Valley Regional Tournament. Pleasantville and the four other top ranking teams - from Ardsley, Byram Hills, Scarsdale, and South Orangetown - advanced to the state tournament that was held April 7-8 in Syracuse.

At the state tournament, Pleasantville's team placed twelfth overall, and first of the five Lower Hudson Valley teams.

Team members earned medals at the NYS Science Olympiad Tournament in the following eight events.

2nd place: Optics - Abhaya Ravikumar & Abigail Lee

3rd place: Road Scholar - Abhaya Ravikumar & Jordan Rosen

7th place: Bottle Rocket - Alexandra Connelly & Peter Pueyo

8th place: Disease Detectives - Jordan Rosen & Abigail Lee
Reach for the Stars - Abhaya Ravikumar & Richik Acharya
Wright Stuff - Abigail Lee & Nikian Sauthoff

9th place: Dynamic Planet - Miyako Cornelius & Richik Acharya

10th place: Towers - Jordan Rosen & Michael Gordon

The state competition team consisted of eighth graders Ian Cotter, Abhaya Ravikumar and Ethan Spanierman; seventh graders Grant Becker, Alexandra Connelly, Amina Fayaz, Michael Gordon, Abigail Lee, Peter Pueyo, Jordan Rosen, Anushka Sundar, and Lily Vidra; and sixth graders Richik Acharya, Miyako Cornelius, Sebastian Hernandez, Nikian Sauthoff and Emma Wein.

Volunteers Drs. Martha and Chuck Matteo coordinate the Science Olympiad program with the vital assistance of community and parent volunteer coaches. Team members are grateful for the support they receive from their families, the Middle School PTA, and Pleasantville Friends of STEM, as well as community and corporate donors.

Photo: Jason Gordon