After placing in many invitationals, both the green and white Science Olympiad teams will compete this weekend in the regional tournament against tough schools, such as Solon, Mason, and Hawken. 

Senior Jenny Sarkar, the team captain, thinks the regional tournament is a big deal because they could qualify for the state competition. She said, “The Science Olympiad is taking a bunch of measures for [qualifying], such as weekly meetings and check ups for buildings and study events. It’s really exciting to see the teams get together and work hard.”

Sarkar’s job is to overlook how things are going, if deadlines are being met, and if building events are properly built. She said, “It’s really important that all the events are well-planned and well-rounded because if one event falls apart, the others do, too. We had a milestone last invitational at Mentor where the team placed second overall, so I’m crossing my fingers that we can continue to excel and make it to nationals.”

One of the many members on the repent team, junior Leah Stiffler, has experience in many events. Stiffler said, “This year I’m in three events: Dynamic Planet, Forestry, and Write It Do It. My partners and I have been doing well these past invitationals, so I hope we can continue this streak for the upcoming competitions.”

Stiffler thinks she and her teammates can prepare in multiple ways for this weekend’s competition. She said, “To prepare for regionals, I’m going over old tests, studying the basics, and adding more to the binders and cheat sheets.”

Senior Casper Dombrosky is on both the green and white teams due to open spots that he is flexible to fill. He said, “I’ve been taking about an hour out of every day to go and study new material, as well as touch up on old material that I have not been looking over in the past few weeks. I’ve also been looking over some past tests from Science Olympiad meets and invitationals in order to get more comfortable with the subjects and testing formats.”

Specializing in a few events this year, freshman Purva Punyam is one of the newer members on the white team. She said, “This is my first time ever competing in a regional competition, so I’m excited! I’ve been talking with some upperclassmen to get a feel for how the events go and what to expect.”

Despite being newer to the team, Punyam is feeling optimistic about this weekend and what could be beyond. She said, “The white team has been doing well in the past invitationals, so I have hope that we will do good in the upcoming meets.”

Recently, both teams participated in one more invitational on Feb. 25 to solidify their events and builds at the Mayfield High School Innovation Center, which was organized by the University of Cincinnati. Regionals this weekend will be held on Saturday, March 4 at Baldwin Wallace University.

Science Olympiad is one of the nearly 50 clubs held at Mayfield High School. It teaches students about all things science and building, with more than 20 events available for its members.