Science Olympiad Earns Top Regional Awards

Ranney’s Middle School Science Olympiad Team won top awards in the New Jersey Regional Event on Jan. 15, 2015, at Camden County College. The 18-member team consists of seventh- and eighth- grade students who qualified for the academic team by taking a science test that evaluated their current science knowledge.

The team regularly prepares for event challenges in subject matter which is not covered in a typical Middle School science curriculum. The team members must research their topics and prepare to take challenging tests or build vehicles, bridges, bottle rockets or other structural objects. The events and team members include:

Experimental Design –Sathya Edamadaka, David Piskun, Alex Senderov
Can’t Judge a Powder –Seth Marx, Adam Weiss
Road Scholar – Brandon Whiteman, Rohan Sharma
Anatomy & Physiology – Brandan Whiteman, Raul Sobti
Solar System – Katie Peardon, Shrish Vaidyaselvan
Picture This – Sathya Edamadaka, Jack Crilly, Shrish Vaidyaselvan
Wheeled Vehicle – Paul Cantave, Rohan Sharma
Bridge Building – Ryan McCarthy, Fabio Tessiore
Bottle Rocket – Gaurav Sahgal, Justin Rinaldo
Write it, Do it – Aaryan Raval, Jack Crilly

The teams’ dedication and hours of hard work have paid off. The team was awarded four medals for their efforts at the Jan. 15 event:

1st Place – Picture This – Sathya Edamadaka, Jack Crilly, Shrish Vaidyaselvan
3rd Place – Solar System – Katie Peardon, Shrish Vaidyaselvan
4th place – Wheeled Vehicle – Paul Cantave, Rohan Sharma
5th Place – Experimental Design – Sathya Edamadaka, David Piskun, Alex Senderov

The Middle School Team, coached by Betty Williams, Madeleine McCarthy and Carol Ann Rofrano hope to advance to the state finals held in March.

Read related article about the Science and Math Olympiads at Ranney.