Austin Science Olympiad heads to state competition
Published 10:41 am Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Science Olympiad team will head to state competition Saturday at Bethel University.
From left back row: Noah Lund, Abby Schammel, Sydney Conway, Cody Berglund, Will Bartemes, Nora Curtis, Michael Carroll. Front row: Livia Dyke, Tyler Blomquist, Grace Thoen. Not pictured: Isaac Wollersheim. — Photo provided
Austin doesn’t only have state-competitors in dance and gymnastics. Students in Science Olympiad are headed to state competition as well.
The Science Olympiad competed in regions Feb. 14 at Century High School. The team scores were high enough to go on to the state meet this Saturday at Bethel University.
“It’s really exciting,” team coach Tisha Pischke said.
Pischke, an Austin High School science teacher, said there are three types of events for the competition: brain based, building based and experimental based.
“It’s a lot of varied things,” she said. “It’s not just knowledge, it’s can you apply it, can you build it.”
“It encompasses a lot of activities for them,” she added.
Students who medaled in the regional competitions include Cody Berglund and Will Bartemes in cell biology with third place, Nora Curtis and Livia Dyke in forensics with second place, and Will Bartemes and Nora Curtis in first place with fossils.
Other members of the team include: Tyler Blomquist, Michael Carroll, Grace Thoen, Sydney Conway, Abby Schammel, Isaac Wollershiem and Noah Lund.
Pischke was excited to see the students do so well in the competition.
“It’s pretty cool to watch them do it and then succeed,” she said.
She has coached the team for five years, and was an assistant coach for two. She said the main goal for the students isn’t only to learn, although that is a large part of the experience.
“I just want them to get out there and to have fun,” she said. “It’s about science, so I want them to get excited about science.”
She also wants the students to see what other teams are doing, find different ways to solve problems and gather ideas for projects they could do.
The team started working in October and will finish at the state competition this Saturday. Pischke said many of the students are also in other activities, such as band or robotics team.
“They are very busy, well-rounded students,” she said.
Although the team did not make it to state competition last year, Pischke said the team has made it several times before.
