The Shady Side Academy Middle School Science Olympiad Team earned the second-best national finish in the history of the program, placing eighth out of 60 teams in Division B (grades 6-9) at the 39th Annual Science Olympiad National Tournament, held Saturday, May 20 at Wichita State University.
It marked the team's 14th trip to nationals in the past 21 years and its best finish since a third-place showing in 2004. SSA earned the trip to nationals by finishing second at the Pennsylvania State Tournament on April 22 – and ended up finishing one spot ahead of the PA state champions, Springhouse Middle School, at nationals.
SSA student teams finished in the top 10 in 11 different individual events and in the top 20 in 19 events. The following students earned top 20 finishes:
- 2nd place: Storm the Castle: Hanna Singhi, Evan Xiang
- 4th place: Meteorology: Evan Chen, Evan Xiang
- 6th place: Fast Facts: Evan Chen, Andrew Xing
- 7th place: Codebusters: Ethan Chen, Allison Guan, Andrew Xing
- 7th place: Flight: Allison Guan, Evan Xiang
- 8th place: Rocks and Minerals: Claudia Iannetti, Hanna Singhi
- 8th place: Sounds of Music: Vivan Poddar, Thomas Wang
- 9th place: Can’t Judge a Powder: Ethan Chen, Thomas Wang
- 9th Place: Disease Detectives: Alex Bi, Ethan Chen
- 9th place: Roller Coaster: Allison Guan, Evan Xiang
- 9th place: Write It Do It: Anna Grace Shultz, Hanna Singhi
- 11th place: Anatomy and Physiology: Alex Bi, Evan Xiang
- 11th place: Bio Process Lab: Alex Bi, Anna Litster
- 12th place: Road Scholar: Vivan Poddar, Anna Grace Shultz
- 15th place: Crime Busters: Ethan Chen, Thomas Wang
- 16th place: Crave the Wave: Alex Bi, Vivan Poddar
- 17th place: Dynamic Planet: Alex Bi, Hanna Singhi
- 17th place: Experimental Design: Allison Guan, Hanna Singhi, Evan Xiang
- 17th place: Solar System: Max Shaffer, Andrew Xing
One of the nation’s most prestigious science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions, Science Olympiad brings together 120 winning middle and high school teams advancing from state-level competitions. Rigorous hands-on and lab events led by experts cover topics in engineering, physics, epidemiology, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology and coding. View full results from the 2023 National Tournament here.
Congratulations to the team and its coaches, Middle School science teachers Bonnie Maxwell and Matt Brunner, as well as Chris Erler, on an amazing 2022-2023 season!