APA students grab Science Olympiad gold

Proud Science Olympiad medalists from Arendell Parrott Academy (left to right) Alexis Laws and Aneesha Jayaram. Submitted photo

Facing down tough competition, two Arendell Parrott Academy seventh graders emerged from the April 27 state Science Olympiad tournament with first place gold medals. Alexis Laws of Kinston and Aneesha Jayaram of Jacksonville combined their sleuthing skills to win the state title in the Science Olympiad event known as “Crime Busters.”

Faculty coach Marie Swann, a high school chemistry teacher, described the event: “They have to identify a whole packet of various chemicals—all of which look alike—and then match them with forensic details to determine which chemical was used in each criminal case.”  

The two girls worked hard preparing for the state meet at N.C. State in Raleigh, even emailing Swann for study tips over Easter vacation.

“I was really excited when we won first place,” Laws said.  “We were even competing against ninth graders.”

Her partner gave a lot of credit to Swann.  

“She gave us all the help we needed,” Jayaram said.  

The state Science Olympiad tournament fielded teams from 52 N.C. schools.