The Springfield Middle School Science Olympiad team had an eventful January and February, with three weekends of challenging invitational competitions across Ohio and Michigan. Starting with a trip to Watts Middle School in Centerville, Ohio, on Saturday, January 27, our two SMS teams of more than 30 sixth through eighth grade students faced 30-plus other schools in 23 varying science events. Top finishers at the Centerville Invitational include Allison Altstaetter and Mohammad Azaz Aslam, who took home fifth place medals in the Can’t Judge a Powder event; along with Aiden Kirlin and Joshua Kleopfer, who earned fifth place medals in the Road Scholar event. Finishing with seventh place ribbons in Experimental Design and Codebusters, respectively, were the trios of Mckenzie Cox, Allison Altstaetter and Caleb Fox, and Brayden Root, Mckenzie Cox and Autumn Grant.
Last, but not least, eighth graders Ian Thomas and Lilly Munch secured eighth place ribbons in the beloved event Crime Busters, allowing them to show off their skills in the field of forensic science.
On the following Saturday, February 3, the teams ventured east to compete with more than 45 teams from nine different states at the Solon Middle School Invitational. Known for being one of the most competitive and challenging invitationals, the Solon competition pushed our Springfield students in all of their events. The pinnacle of the awards came when Henry Brewis and Tori Welch won the third place medal in the technical writing event called Write It, Do It. Making the ceremony even more gratifying, Springfield eighth graders Brayden Root and Aiden Kirlin flexed their science trivia skills by clutching the sixth place medal in Fast Facts.
For the final invitational of the winter, our Blue Devils headed north to the University of Michigan on February 17, where they got a taste of navigating campus life amidst a wintery mix of college students and 80-plus Science Olympiad teams. The major highlight of the evening was watching Ian Thomas and Alysenne Ellis collect fifth place medals for excelling, once again, in the Crime Busters event. Additional events ranking in the top 10 at U of M included, Joshua Kleopfer and Brayden Root in Dynamic Planet (10th), Evan Brostek and Aiden Kirlin in Ecology (eighth), Aiden Kirlin and Brayden Root in Fast Facts (10th), and Aiden Kirlin and Joshua Kleopfer in Road Scholar (ninth).
The Science Olympiad regular season culminates on Saturday, March 16, at the NW Ohio Regional tournament, hosted by Bowling Green State University, where both SMS teams will strive to earn a coveted spot at the state tournament at the Ohio State University campus in April.
Congratulations to the teams for the growth and success, and best of luck to the students and coaches (Jamie Lenox and Mike Ransford) as they prepare for regionals.
