Oak Harbor’s Science Olympiad Team consisted of (first row, left to right) Phoebe Lenke, Mo Natsheh, Luc Sloan, Griffin Heintz, Cally Sebastian and Sam Hinkle; (second row) Alyssa Zetzer, Nick Slagle, Chance Milledge, Hailey Schiets, Alexis Blank, Caitlynn Noble, Alyha Marquez, Maddie Nissen, teacher Lauretta Swint; and (third row) Bryce Chanthavong, Haley Lenke, Ella Dedes, Abby Pollauf and Elaina Pollauf  (Violet Warren not pictured).

Oak Harbor’s 20 members of its high school and junior high school Science Olympiad Teams all placed in the top 10 in several of their events at the Bowling Green State University regional on Saturday, Feb. 29. The high school team was the sixth highest ranking school system and the junior high team was the eighth highest ranking school system. It was the first year that the school had developed a Science Olympiad Team and all eight members of the junior high team medaled in at least one of their events.

Hailey Schiets, Abby Pollauf, Alyssa Zetzer and Sam Hinkle all earned three top-6 medals. Lainey Pollauf, Violet Warren, Alyha Marquez and Maddie Nissen all earned two top-6 medals. Haley Lenke, Caitlynn Noble, Ella Dedes, Bryce Chanthavong, Phoebe Lenke and Nick Slagle also earned a top-6 medal.

Science Olympiad Team competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division (high school and junior high). Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology.

By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Teamwork is a required skill in most scientific careers today, and Science Olympiad encourages group learning by designing events that forge alliances.

Teacher Lauretta Swint believes that there is no substitute for the experience of competing and working together academically in a fun setting that goes above and beyond the classroom. Students are challenged to thoroughly read and understand complex event descriptions, manage time and deadlines and find reputable resources to study. The building events also require applying the engineering skills of designing, testing and modifying.