PUHI — Lola Buick, a student at St. Catherine’s School, said she was better prepared for this year’s eighth annual Kauai Regional Science Olympiad, that unfolded Monday at the Kauai Community College. “This year, I spent more time getting ready,”
PUHI — Lola Buick, a student at St. Catherine’s School, said she was better prepared for this year’s eighth annual Kauai Regional Science Olympiad, that unfolded Monday at the Kauai Community College.
“This year, I spent more time getting ready,” she said.
The science Olympiad is a series of competitive events involving all areas of science presented in an Olympic Games format. The Kauai version of the Hawaii State Science Olympiad involves students in middle and high schools.
“We always do it on Martin Luther King Day,” said Ryan Girard, Hawaii State Science Olympiad Kauai regional director. “The college campus is closed for the holiday and we are able to use the facilities to present the program.”
Jonah Knapp, a Waimea High School student, is a returning participant to the Kauai Regional Science Olympiad. Last year, he finished third at the state HSSO.
“I want to go back,” he said. “This year, we’re doing Building Bridges, the same event I worked on last year. This year, I’m partnering with Athena Abadilla and we’re more concerned about how much weight the bridge will hold rather than how much the bridge weighs.”
As the team went through the competitive process, Girard noted that each year, a new challenge is added to the familiar games. One of the new twists in Building Bridges was the angling of the structure before weight is added. In the case of Bottle Rockets, a fresh egg payload was included with the rocket.
“The glue gave out,” said Christian Pablo, another Waimea High School student. “We spent five hours building the bridge and the glue gave out.”
Victor Aguilar, one of the Waimea coaches, said this year Waimea fielded two teams.
“The students were so excited, more students came out,” he said. “This is such a good event because it is self motivating. The students do all the work. They find an area they’re passionate about and need to do all the research and work involved.”
Stephanie Iona, of Dow Agrosciences, one of the Kauai event sponsors, was thrilled with the progression of events taking place before her.
“This is what we live for,” she said. “When I was in high school in the honor program, we never had anything like this. The students are doing a lot more than we could.”
The mission of the science Olympiad is to improve the quality of kindergarten through grade 12 science education.
