Science Olympiad Team #1 in Vermont

SJA Science Olympiad team with medals
April 1, 2019

The SJA Science Olympiad teams were awarded first, fourth, and seventh places at the recent Vermont state competition at The University of Vermont. First row, left to right, Leili Young-Xu, Qiyu “Eliza” Wan, Zhiying “Selena” Guan, Jianing Wu, Jiaxin “Jessie” Du, Qiongyin “Joey” Yan, Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu, Kasey Rice. Second row, left to right: Liang “Leo” Zhao, Zeou “David” Wei, Han “Carrie” Zeng, Yifeng “Gloria” Pan, Yiqi “Nick” Zhao, Myles Thornton-Sherman, Anzhelika Nastashchuk. Third row, left to right: Zixian “Michael” Chen, Weipeng “David” Zhou, Tianrui “Kerry” Li, Linjie “Lanny” Hao, Sung Woo “Sean” Jang, Luke Young-Xu, William Haresch, and Kenneth Achilles.


St. Johnsbury Academy science students recently placed first in the Vermont State Science Olympiad at The University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Two additional teams from the Academy also competed placing fourth and seventh. The first-place team has opted out of the national competition at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, since it falls on Commencement weekend.

 

The UVM website describes the Science Olympiad: “For the past 35 years, Science Olympiad has led a revolution in science education. What began as a grassroots assembly of science teachers is now one of the premier science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 7,800 teams in 50 states. Science Olympiad’s ever-changing line-up of events in all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines exposes students to practicing scientists and career choices and energizes classroom teachers with a dynamic content experience.”

 

Science Olympians participating in the event were Kenny Achilles ’21, Zixian “Michael” Chen ’20, Jiaxin “Jessie” Du ’19, Zhiying “Selena” Guan ’19, Linjie “Lanny” Hao, Will Haresch ’20, Sung-Woo “Sean” Jang ’20, Wenjing “Grace” Li ’21, JingHao “Vincent” Lin ’19, Anzhelika Nastashchuk ’20, Yifeng “Gloria” Pan ’20, Kasey Rice ’21, Jia Jun “Chris” Shen ’19, Miles Thornton-Sherman ’21, Yanze “Jason” Wang ’19, Xiaotong “Jessica” Wang ’19, Qiyu “Eliza” Wan ’21, Liang Zeou “David” Wei ’19, Qinnoa “Fiona” Wu ’21, Jianing Wu ’19, Qiongyin “Joey” Yan ’19, Xinyi “Monica” Xiong ’21, Leili Young-Xu’19; Luke Young-Xu ’21, Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu ’19, Han “Carrie” Zeng ’20, Tianshang “Calvin” Zhang ’19, Yiqi “Nick” Zhao ’20, Liang “Leo” Zhao ’20, Zhengyan “Henry” Zhang ’19, and Liyu “Ray” Zheng ’19.

 

The SJA teams and their results were as follows: Jesse Du, Joey Yan, and Leili Young-Xu placed first in Experimental Design; Will Haresch and Michael Chen placed first in Geologic Mapping; Leili Young-Xu and Gloria Pan placed first in Herpetology; Carlos Yu earned 1st place in Mousetrap Vehicle; and Luke Young-Xu and Jianing Wu placed first in Water Quality; Eliza Wan and Grace Li placed second in Anatomy and Physiology; Will Haresch and Kenny Achilles placed second in Astronomy; Kasey Rice and Carrie Zeng placed second  in Disease Detectives; Lanny Hao and David Wei placed second in Dynamic Planet; Anzhelica Nastashchuk and Sean Jang placed second in Mission Possible; Joey Yan and Jessie Du placed second in Sounds of Music; Kenny Achilles and Leo Zhao placed third in Circuit Lab; Myles Thornton-Sherman, Michael Chen, and David Wei place third in Codebusters; Grace Li and Nick Zhao placed third in Disease Detectives; Carlos Yu and Jianing Wu placed third in in Fermi Questions; Gloria Pan and Kasey Rice placed third in Geologic Mapping; Fiona Qinnuo and Monica Xiong placed third in Mission Possible; and Jessica Wang and Henry Zhang placed third in Water Quality.

 

The team’s coach, science faculty member Cristin Ashmankas, said, “I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of all our Science Olympians. These students put hundreds and hundreds of hours into their preparations and training, and it all paid off!”

 

Headmaster Tom Lovett said, “The number of medalists in this group of Olympians across a wide range of fields is impressive, and I am even more impressed with their commitment throughout the year. Congratulations to Ms. Ashmankas and all of the competitors! Their families should be very proud!”

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