On Saturday, April 10, the Shady Side Academy Middle School Science Olympiad Team placed fifth out of 30 teams in Division B (grades 6-9) at the Pennsylvania Science Olympiad State Tournament, held virtually.

Congratulations to the following students who placed in the top five in their events, including five first-place teams:

• Jeffrey Brunner and Evan Xiang: 1st for Boomilever
• Sophia Gombos and Evan Xiang: 1st for Meteorology
• Jeffrey Brunner and Evan Xiang: 1st for Mousetrap Vehicle
• Maya Agarwal and Sophia Jho: 1st for Ornithology
• Rohan Shrishrimal and Hari Viswanathan: 1st for Reach for the Stars
• Ethan Hou and Rohan Shrishrimal: 1st for Water Quality
• Shaurya Gulati and Andrew Zeng: 2nd for Density Lab
• Ethan Hou, Rohan Shrishrimal and Hari Viswanathan: 2nd for Experimental Design
• Anna Apetrei-Pandrea and Neyla Hinedi: 2nd for Mission Possible
• Rohan Shrishrimal and Hari Viswanathan: 2nd for Write It CAD It
• Maya Agarwal and Evan Xiang: 3rd for Game On
• Ethan Chen and Shaurya Gulati: 4th for Crime Busters
• Sophia Jho and Hari Viswanathan: 4th for Heredity
• Ethan Chen and Ian Mocker: 5th for Food Science
• Sophia Jho and Hari Viswanathan: 5th for Fossils

Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female and minority interest in science, creating a technologically-literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers.

Congratulations to the team and its coaches, Middle School science teachers Bonnie Maxwell, Matt Brunner and Paul Waked, as well as Chris Erler.