Team wins 11 medals at regional tournament
Polk County Middle School (PCMS) sponsored its 2012 Science Olympiad Team in the regional tournament at UNC Asheville on Saturday, March 17, for competition in 23 separate events.
Students from eighth, seventh and sixth grades were organized in two and three person teams, facing students from 10other Western North Carolina schools.
PCMS fielded teams in both varsity and junior varsity categories. Orientation began late in the fall semester, with detailed preparation since January under the guidance of five science teacher-coaches and community volunteers.
The PCMS varsity team finished in third place among 11 schools and will participate in the state tournament April 27-28 at N.C. State University in Raleigh.
Science Olympiad is a nationwide program that challenges students to study specific scientific fields or technology, then apply their learning and logic in direct competition. Construction events included the design, construction and demonstration of bottle rockets, balsa-wood helicopters, mousetrap cars and functional catapults. Science knowledge categories included topics ranging from minerals to electricity to microbiology and food chemistry.
Top-performing students were recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals, while school teams received cumulative, comparative scores for overall tournament ranking.
Individual student wins for PCMS team members included:
• Gold medals in Helicopter for Sam Murray and Jacob Wolfe
• Gold medals in Shock Value (electricity) for Sam Murray and Skye Yarborough
• Gold medals for Rhian Alley and Russ Muse in JV Experimental Design
• Gold medals in JV Mousetrap Car for Isaius Akers and Zach Foy
• Gold medals in JV Heredity for Rhian Alley and Drew Bailey
• Gold medals for Keileigh McMurray and Lane Ruff in JV Road Scholar
• Gold medals for Russ Muse and Rhian Alley in JV Write It Do It
• Silver medals in Crimebusters for Skye Yarborough and Grace Marshall
• Silver medals in Experimental Design for Coltan Edwards, Grayson Greene and Sam Rhinehart
• Silver medals for Gabe O’Brien and Conner McCarthy in Mousetrap Car
• Bronze medals for Grayson Greene and Sam Murray in Heredity.
Rhian Alley, seventh-grade winner of three gold medals said, “It was amazing how it came together for us.”
Sam Murray, an eighth-grader who earned two gold and one bronze medals, added, “… State Olympiad, here we come!”
PCMS Science Department Chair Dr. Bob Pettis said, “It was great to get 11 medals in our first year back!”
– article submitted
by Greg Robinson, PCMS