SL paces Science Olympiad award winners
South Lenoir High School students Devin Likar, third from left, and Caleb Wilson, center, were recognized at the March 4 meeting of the Lenoir County Board of Education for a first-place finish in the regional Science Olympiad competition that qualified them for a spot in the state tournament in April. With the students are, from left, LCPS Superintendent Brent Williams, school board vice chair Bruce Hill, South Lenoir Science Olympiad team coaches Sarah York and Ryan Gardner and school board chair Keith King. Submitted photo
DEEP RUN — Two South Lenoir High School students will take their biology knowledge into state competition next month after teaming up for a first-place award in the Region X Science Olympiad.
The top finish by the team of Caleb Wilson and Devin Likar in the Anatomy and Physiology event highlighted a harvest of honors by LCPS students. In the junior varsity competition, the Woodington Middle team of Charlie Taylor and Guenevere Tripp earned first place in the Roller Coaster event.
Eight of the district’s middle and high schools posted 38 top-five finishes during the Feb. 16 competition, held at Lenoir Community College for middle and high schools in Eastern North Carolina.
In its 19th year at LCC, the regional Science Olympiad drew nearly 700 competitors from 17 middle school and 20 high schools from nine ENC counties.
“It’s just great to see these kids doing these kinds of activities in STEM and STEAM, to build it and be involved in,” LCC’s Richy Huneycutt, the event coordinator, said. “The best part is when you have between 500 and 700 parents, faculty and staff just screaming for academics, not athletics. That’s pretty phenomenal.”
High school and middle school students compete in separate divisions, with each division offering 23 events. All test at least one of the STEAM skills of science, technology, engineering, art and math. Some, like, Battery Buggy and Elastic Launched Gliders, test design and engineering skills; others, like Fossils or Water Quality, require more lab and analytical skills.
Students typically compete in two-person teams. First and second-place finishes by members of a varsity team earn a spot in the state tournament, scheduled for April 26-27 in Raleigh.
In addition to taking home a first, South Lenoir High finished eighth in the team standings, cracking the top 10 for the first time in three years of competition. Team coaches are Ryan Gardner and Sarah York of the South Lenoir faculty.
Top finishers from LCPS were:
South Lenoir — Caleb Wilson and Devin Likar, first, Anatomy and Physiology; Yosi Alcantara-Esquivel and Austin Modlin, second, Dynamic Planet; Yosi Alcantara-Esquivel and Matthew Loftin, second, Fermi Questions; Caleb Wilson and Matthew Loftin, second, Fossils; Devin Likar and Alicia Gray, third, Herpetology; Yosi Esquivel-Alcantara, Caleb Wilson, and Matthew Loftin, fourth, Codebusters; Michaela Elmore and Brett Huffman, fourth, Thermodynamics; and Caleb Wilson and Matthew Loftin, fifth, Sounds of Music
North Lenoir — Adrianna Gaona, second, Chem Lab; Anna Hull and Jamell Mumford, third, Code Busters; Lissette Vazquez-San Juan and Will West, third, Disease Detectives; Lissette Vasquez-San Juan, fourth, Forensics; and Summer West and Will West, third, Water Quality
Early College High School — Madison Williams and Anna Cunningham, third, Anatomy and Physiology; Cassidy Kennedy and Haley Jones, fourth, Herpetology; Cintja Cordova, fifth, Thermodynamics; Jakyra Simmons and Shanauria Hassell, fifth, Fossils; and Abbigale Hull-Guilliams, fifth, Mousetrap Vehicle
Kinston — Jazmyne Harris and Er'Aeyl Harris, second, Write It, Do It
Frink Middle — Jacob Hardy and Leslie Mahone, second, Road Scholar; Dakotah Lane and Samia Pitts, third, Crime Busters; Ramiyah Lee and Rickalya Harper, third, Dynamic Planet; Dakotah Lane and Rickayla Harper, fifth, Anatomy and Physiology; and Kaitlyn Minder and Meadow Jones, fifth, Duct Tape Challenge
Contentnea-Savannah School — Lesley Wiggins and Eagan Ballard, second, Disease Detectives, and Mary Anna Respess and Jackson Heath, fourth, Water Quality
Rochelle Middle — Raymond Robinson and Pramod Walikar, second, Herpetology; Janae Brown and Maylasiana Bell, fourth, Fossils; Crystal Cheston and Marwan Albaadani, fourth, Circuit Lab; and Crystal Cheston and Pramod Walikar, fourth, Heredity
Woodington Middle — Charlie Taylor and Guenevere Tripp, first, Roller Coaster; Addyson Lucas & Jamison Sutton, third, Battery Buggy; Lena Cripe and David Phillippe, third, Disease Detective; Nathan Pittman and Harrison Tucker, third, Ping Pong Parachute; Sydney Whichard and Alyssa Hightower, third, Thermodynamics; Addyson Lucas and Jamison Sutton, third, Write It, Do It; Sean Conner and Riley Hoover, fourth, Elastic Launched Glider; and Lena Cripe and Garrett Tucker, fourth, Roller Coaster
