City, county students recognized at Science Olympiad

(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Madison County youth were among more than 600 middle and high school students competing at the 22nd annual North Alabama Regional Science Olympiad.

The contest at the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Feb. 28 attracted 43 teams representing 23 schools as far south as Prattville.

Local schools included Liberty, Hampton Cove and Monrovia middle schools; St. John Paul II Catholic, Sparkman, Grissom and Huntsville high schools; Randolph School; and Madison and Lifegate academies, Olympiad director Vanessa Colebaugh said.

For middle schools, Monrovia placed second overall and advanced to the state Science Olympiad at Huntington College in Montgomery on April 11. JPII placed second overall for high schools and also advanced.

JPII garnered numerous honors, including first place in anatomy and physiology, protein modeling, cell biology, chemistry lab, compound machines and technical problem-solving. JPII also earned second places in “Mission Possible,” scrambler and bridge building.

Third- and fourth-place honors for JPII were in fossils, “It’s About Time,” forensics, “Wright Stuff,” astronomy and chemistry lab.

Madison Academy’s awards included second place for air trajectory; bungee drop, third; and scrambler, fourth.

Lifegate Academy ranked in first place for bungee drop, second place for technical problem-solving and third for air trajectory, “Write It, Do It,” and “Mission Possible.”

In the middle school division, Liberty earned fourth place for bio process lab.

Monrovia won top places in numerous categories, taking first place for “Write It, Do It,” and meteorology. Monrovia’s second-place honors were in experimental design, “Can’t Judge a Powder,” “Crave the Wave” and wheeled vehicle.

In third-place awards, Monrovia was recognized for “Disease Detective,” elastic launch glider, “Picture This” and “Road Scholar,” along with fourth place for solar system.

“During five hours of competition in more than two dozen events, the student teams tested their skills at such things as building bridges, helicopters and catapults,” Colebaugh said. “They mapped proteins, identified plants and animals and, most importantly, fired their enthusiasm for science while gaining important life skills, such as learning to solve problems in teams.”