Torrance, CA (March 26, 2012): On February 25, BMHS science instructor and graduate Norah Aubele-DeBellis '84 and 14 students traveled to Occidental College to compete in the 26th Annual Los Angeles County Science Olympiad. In all, students from 131 private and public elementary, middle, and high schools competed in anatomy & physiology, astronomy, chemistry, engineering, forensics, optics and other subjects. Bishop Montgomery competed in a field of 46 high schools.
The Science Olympiad is a rigorous K-12 science, engineering and technology competition and is considered one of the premiere competitions in the United States. It is, in fact, the largest multi-discipline team science competition in the country.
Bishop Montgomery's entry into the competition is due, in main part, to the work of junior Claire Park '13, who asked DeBellis if BMHS could be a part of the olympiad. "I heard about it through a friend," explains Park. "I thought it was important to have Bishop be a part of the competition."
Overall, the representatives from BMHS fared very well. BMHS finished 9th overall in the field of Anatomy & Physiology and 8th in Optics. The big winners, however, were juniors Shannon Lipp '13 and Lauren White '13, who teamed to finish 2nd in the Forensics competition. "This whole experience was new to me," explained Lipp. For White, the experience was hopefully a preview of things to come. "I have always wanted to be a police officer," explained White. "But I love science too much not to have that as part of my life - so I want to be a forensic scientist some day."
Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division. Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved and emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation. "The students and I had so much fun and we are already planning next year's Science Olympiad team," said DeBellis.