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Higher grade level latches onto dynasty
Higher grade level latches onto dynasty
By TONY LANGE
There's no big secret to winning the Science Olympiad National Tournament, Solon High School science teacher Donna Ross said.
Her team took its second straight national title May 19 at the University of Central Florida, and she has been getting messages from other coaches across the United States asking her what the formula to success is, Mrs. Ross said.
"I just have to tell them that there's no secret," she said. "It does take a lot of time, and the big secret is kids have to be self-motivated. If you have to try to guide them and prompt them to do things, then that's not what it takes to win a championship. They have to want it that bad that they will do whatever it takes. It's not like I say, 'Hey, give me two hours of study time on disease detectives.' They have to do that on their own."
At both the state and national levels, Science Olympiad teams compete in a variety of scientific and engineering challenges on topics ranging from public health, ecology and chemistry to cell biology, meteorology and engineering.
More than 3,000 students from 120 middle- and high-school teams in 48 states competed at the national competition last week.
Many of the 15 members who represented the high school team that just won its second straight title also were members of Solon Middle School's national championship teams that started winning titles in 2008 and captured its fifth straight this year.
Senior captain Roger Zou is one of those members, and he has been to the national tournament every year since eighth grade.
This year, he took fifth in astronomy, fifth in helicopters and sixth in experimental design.
"It certainly shows how deep we are and how consistent we are, and, even though years have passed, we've still managed to keep it that way and keeping excellence in Science Olympiad and keeping the Solon tradition of doing well," said Roger, who is heading to Duke University in the fall. "The same groups of people did well when we were freshman, and we're seniors right now. So I think our success is partly due to our experience and what happened in the middle school in past years."
Solon's other senior captain, Yuxi Liu, said the first year the Comets won the national tournament in middle school was just an utter surprise.
"Solon starting building from that year, and we just became bigger and better, and now we have this dynasty," said Yuxi, who is heading to Yale University in the fall. "It's just a lot of studying and preparation and trying to have fun and seeing where that takes you. Now looking back on it at the end of my Science Olympiad career, it's just a very wholesome end. This team was just amazing throughout the season."
At the national tournament, Yuxi was runner-up in rocks and minerals, fifth in water quality and sixth in experimental design.
In order to repeat the title this season, the Comets had to sacrifice prom weekend.
"For me personally, it was a no brainer, especially as a captain, I felt like it was my duty to the team to go to nationals and try to repeat our win," Yuxi said. "Prom is a very important part of high school life, but when else are you going to be able to compete at such a high national level with all your friends, and in that way it was pretty much an easy decision."
More than 50 students compete for a spot on the 15-member national team, and the interest for Science Olympiad has continued to grow, said Mrs. Ross, who has coached the team for 15 years now.
"The interest has improved, and the kids want to be part of a huge tradition, and the kids set their goals," she said. "They want to win and put it on their resumes that they have been a national champion for Science Olympiad."
The Comets placed in the top six in 15 of the 25 events this year.
They won the elastic launch glider, "Write It Do it," thermodynamics, towers and forestry events.
The Comets finished as runners-up in the rocks and minerals, dynamic planet and chemistry lab events.
They were third in the "Sound of Music" and fourth in the robot arm.
They took fifth place in astronomy, helicopters and water quality and sixth in experimental design and forensics.
"At Solon we're so dedicated to Science Olympiad that it's not that we don't want to go to prom, but nationals is obviously way more important," Roger said.
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