Booth is #1 middle school in science

By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

If the National Science Olympiad gives out championship rings, then Mary Wilde is running out of fingers.

Her Booth Middle School team won its fifth straight title over the weekend, beating out squads from across North America at the annual event on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

Rising Starr Middle School, just south of Peachtree City, took sixth place in the nation in the middle school science competition.

Troy High School in Fullerton, Calif., picked up top honors in the high school category. Peachtree City's McIntosh High School took top spots in two contests and placed second in another.

A total of 54 middle schools and 54 high schools competed in the event, with the top six finishers in each event receiving Olympic-style medals. Plaques are awarded to the top 10 overall winners in both divisions.

Wilde, who has coached the Booth team for 14 years, reported that this year's group achieved an unheard-of feat — a top-10 finish in all 23 events.

“We averaged 30 points in each event,” she said. “There are usually some events we fall out of. This was the most amazing team performance I've ever seen.”

Events with names like “science crime busters” and the trajectory contest are geared to demonstrate science knowledge and problem-solving skills as well as the ability to work as a team.

The Booth contingent left Georgia May 15 and spent nearly a week out west, arriving home late Sunday night. The actual competition was Friday and Saturday.

A combination of academic and construction physics events were conducted, Wilde said, meaning that some students prepared projects in advance and carried them to the event while others came ready to take tests at the competition site.

Only 15 students actually compete on each team, but Booth took 32 students to Washington for this event. Interest in the Science Olympiad is increasing every year on the Booth campus because of its continued dominance, and Wilde acknowledged that she is having an increasingly difficult time selecting her team because of that.

She will begin preparing for next year in a few weeks by attending a camp during the summer. The students will start getting ready in September. “It's a year-round activity,” she said.

Booth principal Lyn Wenzel praised Wilde's leadership. “She is the one behind it all. She's such a hard worker,” said Wenzel. “She organizes and gets coaches for each event, and that's why they're strong in each event, and do so well overall.”

The National Science Olympiad is an international nonprofit organization devoted to increasing and sustaining student interest in science. It provides recognition for outstanding achievement in science education through classroom activities, research, training workshops and local, state and national competitions.

EWU is situated on a 300-acre campus in Cheney, a community of 8,300 residents 17 miles southwest of Spokane, Washington's second largest city.

Photos and results from the Olympiad are available online at www.thecitizennews.com.

Top 10 middle schools

in science in the nation

1. J.C. Booth Middle School — Peachtree City, Ga.

2. Thomas Jefferson Middle School — Valparaiso, Ind.

3. Arendell Parrot Academy — Kinston, N.C.

4. Malow Junior High School — Shelby Township, Mich.

5. New Mark Middle School — Kansas City, Mo.

6. Rising Starr Middle School — Fayetteville, Ga.

7. South Middle School — Arlington Heights, Ill.

8. Piqua Junior High School — Piqua, Ohio

9. Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School — Reading, Mass.

10. Magsig Middle School — Centerville, Ohio

Individual events —

Middle schools

Battery Buggy

1. St. Francis Xavier - Phoenix, Ariz.

2. Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School - Reading, Mass.

3. Rising Starr Middle School - Fayetteville, Ga.

(Team will design and build a battery-powered vehicle to traverse a course.)

Experimental Design

1. Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School - Reading, Mass.

2. Magsig Middle School — Centerville, Ohio

3. Booth Middle School — Peachtree City, Ga.

(Given a set of unknown objects, teams will design and conduct an experiment.)

Reach for the Stars

1. Henry B. duPont Middle School — Hockessin, Del.

2. Booth Middle School — Peachtree City, Ga.

3. Rising Starr Middle School — Fayetteville, Ga.

(Teams will identify constellations and solve astronomy problems.)

Water Strider

1. Malow Junior High School — Shelby Township, Mich.

2. Kane Area Middle School — Kane, Penn.

3. Booth Middle School — Peachtree City, Ga.

(Students will design and build a device, using only the materials specified, that will travel the length of a water-filled trough, propelled solely by the carbon-dioxide produced from the chemical reaction between sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid.)

The Wright Stuff

1. Bearden Middle School - Knoxville, Tenn.

2. Booth Middle School — Peachtree City, Ga.

3. Rising Starr Middle School — Fayetteville, Ga.

(Students will design and build a propeller propelled aerodynamic device for greatest time aloft.)

Individual events —

High schools

Bottle Rockets

1. McIntosh High School — Peachtree City, Ga.

2. Albuquerque Academy — Albuquerque, N.M.

3. Prairie High School — Brush Prairie, Wash.

(Participants will design, construct and test one or two rockets made from one 2-liter and one 1-liter plastic pop bottle which will remain aloft for a maximum period of time.)

Dynamic Planet

1. duPont Manual High School — Louisville, Ken.

2. McIntosh High School — Peachtree City, Ga.

3. Oak Park High School — Kansas City, Mo.

(Teams will work at stations that display a variety of earth science materials and related earth science questions.)

The Wright Stuff

1. McIntosh High School — Peachtree City, Ga.

2. Chamblee High School — Dunwoody, Ga.

3. West High School — Knoxville, Tenn.

(Students will design and build a propeller propelled aerodynamic device for greatest time aloft.)