Science Olympiad reaches for the stars in L.A. Tournament, grabs six medals

By Jackson Kopitz
Staff Writer

While scientists are often thought of as crazy old men exploding objects in a lab, members of Costa’s Science Olympiad defy these stereotypes by thinking creatively to solve problems and build structures.

The team spent Feb. 28 competing in the Los Angeles Regional Science Olympiad Tournament, medalling in six events and overall placing ninth out of 40 teams from Los Angeles.

“It is pretty amazing that we scored ninth,” Science Olympiad Club advisor Jessica Bledsoe said. “This is out of 40 teams in the Los Angeles region. It is such a big deal for such a young club, especially since a lot of these schools teach science olympiad as a class, not as a club.”

The events cover several types of physical and life sciences in many different topics such as chemistry lab, astronomy, forensics and disease detective. Students either take tests in their event topic or are required to build structures prior to the competition that are put to the test during the contest.

“The way events work is that two or three people from your team compete in a single event, which may be a test or require us to build,” Science Olympiad vice president Shubhayu Bhattacharyay said.

The Science Olympiad Club has 65 members and chooses 15 members to participate on behalf of the team in each tournament, including three alternates. For the selection process, the students submit their current math and science classes, next they take tests on the topics they want to compete in, and are interviewed by Bledsoe.

“Prior to the competition, there’s a lot that goes into selection,” Bledsoe said. “Four years ago, we actually had to recruit non-Science Olympiad members to compete with us because we didn’t have enough members in the club. ”

Science Olympiad is already planning how to improve its results for next year’s competition. The club will continue meeting throughout the rest of the school year to prepare for next year and to elect next year’s board positions.

“I really like teaching it as a club and being there with the students,” Bledsoe said. “It is an extracurricular that gives them the opportunity to reach beyond their core classes and do something different.”