Contributed
Harrells, NC – The HCA Science Olympiad team competed this past weekend at the Kinston Regional tournament with great success, bringing home medals in 13 events and placing third overall. This win qualifies HCA to the State Science Olympiad at NCSU this April.
Head Coach Dee Canady, HCA’s Chemistry teacher, says, “This year we faced some unusual challenges, and it is amazing that we performed as well as we did. While most of our competition had 18-member teams, ours this year was a 13-member team, so our students had to prepare for as many as four events. Additionally, the Kinston Regional was a month earlier than normal, so each of our team members had to prepare for both the State Beta Club competition and Science Olympiad the very next week. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these students. They worked on their own time and exceeded my expectations.”
First held in North Carolina in 1974, Science Olympiad is one of the premier science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to 7,600 teams in 50 states. Science Olympiad’s ever-changing line-up of events in all STEM disciplines exposes students to practicing scientists and career choices, and energizes classroom teachers with a dynamic content experience. Harrells Christian Academy students won in the following events:
First place
Anatomy & Physiology: Brayden Sutton, Miranda Wells
Helicopters: Ellie Carone, Kyra Gensel
Hovercraft: Stefani Boussais, Mary Lila Blackburn
Thermodynamics: Cameron Simpson, Brayden Sutton
Towers: Jackson Hall, Seth Harrell
Second place
Codebusters: Will DeAndrade, Jackson Hall, Kaleb Jessup
Microbe Mission: Cameron Simpson, Miranda Wells
Mission Possible: Kyra Gensel, Kaleb Jessup
Ping Pong Parachute: Ellie Carone, Miranda Wells
Remote Sensing: Seth Harrell, Cameron Simpson
Third place
Forensics: Ivey Rouse, Cameron Simpson
Fifth place
Amazing Mechatronics: Kaleb Jessup, Kyra Gensel
Ecology: Stefani Boussais, Mary Lila Blackburn
This is the last year that Mrs. Canady will coach the Harrells Science Olympiad team as she is retiring at the end of this year. She says, “I am so glad that I have been able to bring this to Harrells. It has been fun. I love seeing that “light bulb” when students have to take their theoretical knowledge and really apply it to a helicopter or a tower. It is so beneficial. I will really miss working with the students.”
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