HS advances to state Science Olympiad

By Anne Dervan, Science Department Chair & Science Olympiad Sponsor and Sierra Smith, Communications Specialist

High School scholars represented University School of Nashville well during the Science Olympiad regional meet bringing home third place overall and placing in the top six in almost every event. 

The competition, which features multiple events in earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, computers, and technology, is designed to recognize the wide variety of skills that students possess and aims to increase students' interest in science and engineering. 

At USN, there was no shortage of interest in competing; 29 students volunteered to put their scientific skills to the test in the numerous building and testing events. 

In the build events, Gavin Higgins '24 placed second in the Trajectory category, followed closely by Connor Harris '25 and Jackson Green '26 in fifth. In the Scrambler category, Collin Chan '25 and Adam Wang '24 were fifth. In the Wifi Lab category, Gavin and Adam secured a fifth place finish also, while Gavin and Caroline Keiper '25 took third in the Bridge category. In the Flight category, Collin and Leala Nakagawa '23 took sixth, and in the It's About Time category, Leala and Sheerea Yu '23 placed first, followed by Izzy Aulino '26 and Eva Choe '26 in second. Adam, Henry Wykoff '24, and Jaimie List '23 brought home first in Detector Building as well. 

USN students continued to thrive in the testing events and teams placed in the categories below: 

Anatomy and Physiology
Emily Law '24, Collin Chan '25 - 1st
Erin Ilagan '26, Eva Choe '26 - 4th

Astronomy
Daniel Guo '25, Claire Gilliam '24 - 3rd

Cell Bio
Eliza Nichols '25, Robiya Sahibnazarova '24 - 5th
Jessica Penilton '24, Biynam Dunne '26 - 6th

Chem Lab
Jaimie List '23, Leala Nakagawa '23 - 6th

Code Busters
Caroline Keiper '25, Eleanor Molvig '25, Sheerea Yu '23 - 2nd
Lin Zheng '26 , Savannah Nimitz '26, Jessica Penilton '24 - 5th

Dynamic Planet
Emily Law '24, Eleanor Molvig '25 - 3rd
Biynam Dunne '26 , Lin Zheng '26 - 6th

Environment Chemistry
Jaimie List '23, Caroline Keiper '25 - 3rd

Experimental Design
Emily Law '24, Sheerea Yu '23, Eleanor Molvig '25 - 5th

Fermi Questions
Claire Gilliam '24, Caroline Keiper '25 - 6th

Forestry
Eliza Nichols '25, Amelie Soslow '25 - 3rd

Green Generation
Amelie Soslow '25, Eliza Nichols '25 - 3rd
Ellie Klein '25, Eva Choe '26 - 5th

Remote Sensing
Daniel Guo '25, Collin Chan '25 - 5th

Rocks/Minerals
Daniel Guo '25 , Eleanor Molvig '25 - 3rd
Ellie Klein '25, Aliza Ahmed '26 - 6th

WiFi Lab
Gavin Higgins '24 , Adam Wang '24 - 5th

Write It, Do It
Robiya Sahibnazarova '24, Adam Wang '24 - 2nd

Students will head to Knoxville on Saturday, April 1 for the state Science Olympiad.