The Science Olympiad team competed in the Raleigh competition Feb. 11, and although they didn’t advance, they won numerous medals for their performance in the events. 

This was their first competition in person since the pandemic that began in 2019.

“It was a lot of fun. Actually, my first time doing Science Olympiad was last year, which was online. This experience in person was just fun and a lot better,” senior Jeremy Welty said.

There were significant changes going from competing in a science competition online to in person.

“I feel like there was definitely a lot of cheating going on, but not by our team. We make sure not to cheat, and there were a lot of teams disqualified for cheating last year; whereas, this year, no one got disqualified, which was great,” senior Ashton Beckum said.

Beckum, being president of the team, had to prepare not only his team, but himself for this competition.

“Well, Science Olympiad doesn’t really prepare all that much. One thing though was, as president, I make sure the rules are given out to everyone,” Beckum said. “I also make sure everyone knows what events they’re doing, who they’re talking to, and also ways that they can prepare by looking on websites and giving examples of what they can do.”

Tara Wojciechowski, one of the lead teachers on the team, expressed her pride in the team and how well they did. The students feel this way as well, as Beckum earned 2nd place in the bridge event, and Welty earned 2nd and 3rd places in the codebusters and chem lab events.

“I was proud of being able to do well. Metaling in two events was good, especially chem lab,” Welty said.

“Honestly, I was really proud because I got second place in bridge, which up against all of the private schools and magnet schools, and schools that do this as a class, getting second place was very rewarding,” Beckum said.

Although the team didn’t advance, they made the most of it and celebrated their winnings rather than mourning their losses.

“I honestly just think the environment and the experience made it really fun to be there with a ton of kids doing the same thing, and we got to go to the gym for the award ceremony,” Welty said. “Everyone’s there when you go to get your medals. Everyone was there cheering you on. It’s just a lot of fun.”