Wantagh HS Science Olympiad Team Thrives at Regional Competition

The following was written by Wantagh High School student Samantha Magnes.

Th Wantagh High School Science Olympiad team competed in the regional competition at Kellenberg Memorial High School on Feb. 2. 

Seventy four teams competed, representing over 40 schools. Wantagh Team A ranked as the nine and seventh place teams, qualifying them for state finals for the first time since 2008.

As a great representation of the school’s academic achievers, Wantagh sent a total of four teams to the regional competition. Only one other school in the county was able to amount such a tremendous display of students interested in the sciences. Thirteen students total had the extreme honor of winning medals for their teams. Medals are awarded to the top eight teams in each event out of the total seventy-four teams.

“Participation in the Science Olympiad competition enables the students to apply their knowledge to specific STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities and hone skills that they will continue to use after they leave Wantagh schools," said Wantagh High School Director of Science Kathleen Cahill. "The students spend a great deal of time working collaboratively and creatively to prepare for the various events. This competition is much more than simply 'science.' It allows students to use their imagination and ingenuity in a forum that not only encourages inquiry but promotes problem solving in the areas of science and technology."

Team A won a total of five medals: Jaclyn Onufrey and Lindsey Stevens placed second in Disease Detectives; Andrew Bloniarz and Sophia Liu placed second in Dynamic Planet; Isabella Swyst and Jaclyn Onufrey placed third in Forestry; Jake Kaplan and Sophia Liu placed fifth in Water Quality; and Isabella Swyst and Kaitlin Pfundstein placed eighth in Geologic. The rest of Team A, Hailey Orgass, Jillian Rodesk, Alyssa Kelly, Kenny Peluso, Avery Kratzer, Adam Aponte, Jonathan Schifman, and Belinda Liu, did an outstanding job in their events guaranteeing their team a place in the statewide competition. 

Team B won a total of two medals: Jamie Redes and Alex Diaks placed first in Write it Do it and Kyle Rhodehouse and Blake Andreou placed eighth in Triple E. Marissa Pollack and Alyssa Soethout won seventh place in Water quality for Wantagh Team D.

Spirit Captain, Hailey Orgass along with spirit committee, Colleen Schaefer, and Jennifer Follo made dozens of posters and over 200 cupcakes to spread spirit throughout Kellenberg. Keeping pace with Wantagh’s twitter theme, the account “@TaghSciOly” has received a lot of attention from Science Olympiad team members from other schools. Students tweeted at Wantagh dozens of tweets such as, “Tagh Sci Oly did an awesome job yesterday and had the best decorations! #SeeYaAtStates,” and, “Go Warriors #SciOly2013!”

The team couldn’t have accomplished all this success without the hard work and long hours of their coach, and popular physics teacher, Richard Colavita, who has been coaching Science Olympiad for 18 years at Wantagh.

“The team demonstrated the pinnacle of focus, motivation, professionalism and fun at Saturday's event" Colavita said. "I couldn't be more impressed with their performance. In preparing for the day, I'm certain that I learned much more from them than they learned from me.”

Wantagh High School Principal Carolyn Breivogel stated, "I am so proud of our young scientists! It was clear that not only do they have the talent to compete as the island’s best and brightest, they also have the drive and the spirit! It was thrilling to be a part of such an innovative day! Congratulations to their science teachers and Sci-Olympiad advisor, Mr. Colavita!"

The Science Olympiad State Finals are March 8 at Monroe Woodbury High School in Central Valley, N.Y. The first two teams will advance to the national competition in May.