Three Science Olympiad teams from the Great Neck Public Schools competed at the Nassau County Regional Middle School Science Olympiad, conducted virtually on March 6. A total of 39 GNPS students participated in the event, with one team representing North Middle School and two teams representing South Middle School.
The competition was comprised of 15 different challenges that require knowledge and skills in engineering, technology, cartography, earth science, biology, forensics, physics, ornithology, astronomy, and environmental science. In addition to team points, medals were awarded to the top competitors in each challenge. An impressive 52 individual medals were awarded to Great Neck participants.
A team from South Middle won first place at the regional competition and qualified for the New York State competition. This team earned medals in all 15 events, with every team member winning at least one medal. The South Middle team members who will advance to the States are: Irina Chiang, Anant Gupta, Nandini Khaneja, Alice Kim, Madeleine Lennox, Ruiqi Liu, Ashley Nguyen, Chloe Ning, Yilin Qiao, Sarah Sun, Erin Wong, Edison Yuan, Sidney Yeung, Jixuan (Jason) Zhang, and Laura Zhang.
The other team from South Middle placed seventh in the competition and earned medals in nine events. Students who won medals are Bryan Chen, Colin Hu, Holly Krause, Caden Li, Issac Liu, Lily Long, Edric Tsai, Josephine Wong, Julia Xu, and Richard Xu.
North Middle’s Science Olympiad team earned medals in four events and placed fifteenth overall. North Middle students who won medals are Todd Eng, Ashley Liu, Katharine Park, Jeremy Shiu, and Emma Wen.
Advisors for the North Middle Science Olympiad team are Donna Plante, Earth science teacher, and Zehava Vitberg, Earth science teacher/North Middle science department chair. Advisors for the South Middle Science Olympiad teams are Randy Lane, technology teacher, and Tobias Hatten, Earth science teacher/South Middle science department chair.
The Regional and State Science Olympiad competitions are sponsored by the New York State Science Olympiad (NYSSO), a non-profit organization that seeks to engage and challenge students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through various levels of team-based competitive tournaments throughout New York State.
