The Southeast Bulloch High School STEM club had a remarkable showing at the Georgia Science Olympiad, winning the Class A state championship. The event, held March 30 at the Georgia Institute of Technology, saw students from the club excel in 14 out of the 24 individual events. They earned eight first-place medals, two second-place medals and four third-place medals.
Danielle Hibbs-Heiser, a science teacher at Southeast Bulloch and the club’s STEM coach, praised her students for their outstanding performance. According to her, this achievement was a significant milestone for them. The Georgia Science Olympiad provides a competitive platform for students to work together and expand their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It is open to students in grades 3-12 and offers various competitions throughout the year.
Several student teams stood out and received medals in their respective categories. Joseph Reddin (12) and Krupa Pandya (11) took first place in Detector Building. Isabel Cruz (11) and John Toole (10) secured first place in Dynamic Planet. Chris Reies (11) and Ethan Prior (10) won first place in Flight. Emma Grace Love (11) and Ohm Pandia (9) emerged victorious in Microbe Mission. Thom Mortimore (12) and John Toole (9) excelled in Optics, Joseph Reddin (12) and Quinn Stoy (9) dominated Robot Tour, Mina Griner (9) and Mattie Shaw (8) won first place in Tour, Ethan Pryor (9) won first place in Wind Energy with Ohm Pandya as his teammate.
The STEM Club also earned second place medals in Air Trajectory and Codebusters while taking home third place medals for Astronomy, Disease Detectives, Experimental Design, Science in the News.
In conclusion, Danielle Hibbs-Heiser commended her students’ hard work and dedication to STEM fields that led them to win state championships at Georgia Science Olympiad. This achievement was a significant milestone for them as they were able to showcase their skills collaboratively while expanding their knowledge of science technology engineering math fields which will benefit them later on their future career paths.