Wickford Middle Takes First In Statewide Science Olympiad

The students of Wickford Middle School’s Science Olympiad team waited anxiously for judges to announce the results.

Fourth place, Western Hills Middle School in Cranston.

We got third, they thought.

Third place, Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence.

Okay, maybe we’re second.

Second place, Barrington Middle School.

That’s when Nancy LaPosta-Frazier, the team’s coach, gasped.

We won!

“I was in shock, but it was a pleasant shock,” said Laposta-Frazier.

Saturday, Apr. 9 marked the first time a North Kingstown school came away with a statewide win at the middle school Science Olympiad. In past years, Wickford Middle has placed high in the competition and was shooting for its first statewide win this past weekend.

“Last year we came in third and we had a really good team,” said Kendra Fry, an eighth grader in her second year on the team. “We were all new to the team and this year more than half the team is eighth graders. It was our year. We had to win.”

The team took home five gold medals, seven silver medals and four bronze medals, medaling in 15 of the day’s 22 events. Seventh grader Lydia Sgouros, a second-year participant of the Science Olympiad, took home the trifecta with a gold, silver and bronze medals.

Friends Kendra Fry and Jamison Hauke won the “tower” event, in which teams must build a low-weight tower that can hold a bucket of sand. Wickford Middle’s tower, weighing in at only an eighth of a pound, held 35 pounds of sand and beat out the competitors. Seventh grader Brandon Morris and eighth grader Nate Ackermann nabbed a gold medal in the “junkyard challenge” after making a catapult out of just paper cups, masking tape, popsicle sticks and rubber bands in less than 30 minutes.

The group will now go on to nationals in Madison, WI on May 19 where they’ll compete with 60 other middle schools and 60 high schools. Though the 17 students (15 participants and two alternates) are beyond excited for the opportunity, they plan to keep their expectations at nationals reasonable.

“There’s no room for improvement for us because we’ve never been there before,” said Morris. “It’s just kind of a learning experience.”

LaPosta-Frazier agrees, adding, “We have to be realistic. Some of these teams have been coming to nationals for decades. We don’t know what we’re getting into.”

Along with studying their brains out for nationals, the team has to tackle yet another obstacle – finding a way to finance its trip to Wisconsin. According to LaPosta-Frazier, it would cost at least $15,000 to $18,000 to send the troupe out to Wisconsin.

School committeewoman Melvoid Benson, in a visit with the team Tuesday, said she would do her best to help them secure money for the trip “without the strain of fundraising” so they can focus on studying.

Congratulations to LaPosta-Frazier and the following studnets on the win:

   Nathan Ackermann
    Emily Buterbaugh
    Martin Carvalho
    Matthew Cirillo
    Emma Cooke
    Henry Coonrod
    Rachel Douglas
    Kendra Fry
    Jamison Hauke
    Ethan Lapointe
    Brandon Morris
    Sean Nagle
    Nick Parker
    Jordan Rogers
    Alex Sadler
    Brian Shamblen
    Lydia Sgouros

Also, congratulations to Davisville Middle School's team who placed sixth in the competition.