Students from the Science Olympiad club competed at State Science Olympiad in Wichita, Kan., on April 7.

Out of 30 teams, South received 10^th place in Rocks and Minerals, 14^th place in Materials Science, and 15^th place in Forensics. 

Shalika Subramanian, freshman; Angelina Garcia, Pat Moore, and Caitlin Swope, sophomores; and Hayley Allison, Andrea Vandenbark, Kaylee Dissel, and Lilee James, juniors; were on the state team.

Jerica Ayers and Byron Hargrove, science teachers, led a team of 11 members. 8 students qualified for state while at regionals.

“We qualified for state as a team, using a team score. This means that we were eligible to compete in all events at the state competition,” Ayers said.

Events in Science Olympiad are very diverse and cover various science topics.

“There are 23 events that cover areas of science from astronomy to designing a mousetrap car to designing a lab experiment,” Ayers said.

Pat Moore, sophomore, competed in several events at State Science Olympiad.

“I competed in astronomy, human anatomy, forensics, and disease detectives,” Moore stated.

The weirdest question Moore has been asked was “How many jelly beans can you fit in a bathtub?”.

Science Olympiad is a club that includes students who are interested in different types of science careers.

“The team had great camaraderie this year. If one enjoys science or engineering, traveling, and competition, they would love Science Olympiad,” Ayers said.

Unfortunately, a team member was taken to the emergency room the night before the competition.

“We did not get the crucial preparations the evening before, and our team had to shuffle events to cover for the missing member,” Ayers explained.