Maranatha’s Science Club Participates in Science Olympiad

On Saturday, February 23, Maranatha’s Science Olympiad team competed in the Regional Los Angeles County Science Olympiad competition at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier. This is their second time competing in the Science Olympiad, facing off against 50 high schools in the region. Jenessa Ocon, Maranatha’s faculty member and Coach of the Science Olympiad Team said, “Our team of 13 budding scientists demonstrated their scientific knowledge in a series of tasks designed to test their understanding of scientific topics in all disciplines in an all day event.” Students were paired in groups of 2-3 for each task and enjoyed the camaraderie of competing as a team. Maranatha senior Caleb Cheung and sophomore Sara Wu beat out some of the top schools in the competition, earning 2nd place for the “Sound of Music” instrument constructing while using scientific principles. Jenessa continued, “The team is excited to return next year with a renewed curiosity and desire to learn under the direction of Dr. Huang from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and our Science Department faculty.”

The Los Angeles County Science Olympiad is a regional competition held between teams of students representing elementary, middle, and high schools. Winning teams advance to the Southern California Science Olympiad, and success at the state level leads to the National Science Olympiad which is held annually. The Science Olympiad is an international, non-profit organization devoted to improving the quality of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. The Science Olympiad tournaments are rigorous, academic, interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of individual and team events which students prepare for during the year.