Congratulations Earl L. Vandermeulen High School!

PORT JEFFERSON, NEW YORK (FEBRUARY 2024)—Port Jefferson School District’s Earl L. Vandermeulen High School Science Olympiad A Team has achieved a remarkable feat by qualifying for the state-level competition. The team’s outstanding performance was showcased at the Eastern Long Island Regional Competition held at Hauppage High School, during which teams from across the region gathered to compete.

Among the 60 competing teams, Port Jefferson's high school A Team excelled and secured third place, demonstrating their dedication and expertise in various scientific disciplines. Additionally, the school’s B and C teams also participated in the competition, showcasing the depth of talent within the Science Olympiad program at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School.
The competition featured a total of 22 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) events where teams competed in various challenges and tests of scientific knowledge. The top ten teams in each event were awarded medals, highlighting the fierce competition and high standards set by all participating schools.

The state competition will be held from March 15 to 17 at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. A total of eight teams will represent Eastern Long Island at the New York State competition.

Congratulations to our medal winners (listed in event order):
Anatomy- 9th (A) Gavin Onghai and Michelle Wu
Astronomy- 4th (A) Nicholas Smirnov and Emily Snyder
Chemistry Lab- 4th (A) Devon Welsch and Eric Chen
Codebusters- 10th (A) Max Paulus, Emily Snyder, and Max Joyner
Disease Detectives- 2nd (A) Eric Chen & Michelle Wu, 10th (B) Narin Karakurum and Chris Nam
Ecology- 3rd (A) Nicholas Smirnov & Alice Snyder, 6th (B) Colin Veit and Liam Thomsen
Experimental Design- 8th (A) Kieran Casey, Kevin Hong, and Yosef Mimarbasi
Fermi- 9th (B) Liam Thomsen and Thales Cheng
Flight- 9th (A) Kieran Casey and Kevin Hong
Forensics- 10th (B) Marlo Pepe and Jax Moore
Forestry- 6th (A) Tucker Stanton and Alice Snyder
Fossils- 9th (C) Molly Becherer and Iris He
Geo Mapping- 2nd (A) Ryan Gameng and Nicholas Smirnov
Microbe Mission- 1st (A) Michelle Wu & Alice Snyder
Optics- 3rd (A) Devon Welsch & Emily Snyder, 6th (B) Kristina Shterengas and Thales Cheng
Robot- 4th (A) Kieran Casey & Carman Stanton, 5th (B) Talin Bajaj and Rowan Casey
Scrambler- 2nd (A) Kieran Casey and Kevin Hong
Tower- 3rd (A) Max Joyner & Tucker Stanton, 5th (B) Mari Fukuto and Andrew Schretzmayer
Wind Power- 7th (A) Carman Stanton and Gavin Onghai
Write It, Do It- 6th (C) Alexa Wonderland and Cessarina Buehler

For more information regarding the Port Jefferson School District and its students’ many achievements, please visit the District’s website: https://www.portjeffschools.org and follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PortJeffSchools