| oLocal students learn and win at Science Olympiad The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, March 20,, 2003 3 By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — March 12 was a truly memorable day for Dan Flynn, science teacher at Dallas Middle School. First, his wife, Victoria, delivered an 8 lb. 6 oz. son and then his team took fourth place in the regional level of the Pennsylvania Science Olympiad. He was on hand for the first but missed the latter. The team, comprised of 15 students with two alternates, collected eight medals during the day’s events. “We were hop- ing to be in the top seven,” said Christie Potera, also a science teacher and coach for the team. “But we didn’t expect a fourth. This is great.” The top seven teams in both the junior high and senior high divisions advance to the state level of competition in Juniata April 25. The Science Olympiad is an international non-profit organi- zation devoted to increasing stu- dent interest in science and pro- viding recognition for outstand- ing achievement in science edu- cation. This year’s regional com- petition offered 34 individual and team events which were bal- anced between the various sci- ence disciplines of biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology. Some events are tests of sci- ence facts while others test a student’s science applications and skills. Information packets listing the events and their re- quirements are available in the fall and students prepare throughout the year for the com- petition. Over 1,000 students from 29 junior high and 36 se- nior high schools, sporting a va- riety of team t-shirts, converged on the Penn State Lehman Cam- pus for a full day of tourna- ments. “This is the 14th year that we onsored the event,” said Karen Brace-Hodle, Penn State orga- nizer. “It keeps growing and growing.” Two of the day's events in- volved robots. “The kids who built our robots were so excited,” said Jean Lipski, teacher and coach for the junior high and se- nior high teams from Lake- ‘Wes Kinter competed in the ™\y that J ent. (mee POST PHOTOS/M.B. GILLIGAN A jubilant Dallas Middle School team, led by Principal Anthony Martinelli, celebrates its 4th place finish in the Regional Science Olympiad competition. senior division where the robot was required to move items into a box. The items included an empty paper towel roll, four ping pong balls, three empty film canisters, and a golf ball. “I thought that you had to push the items,” said Kinter who built an efficient push-bot and managed to move all of the items in the allotted two minutes. Sev- enth graders Michael Caffrey and Jeremy Stull, from Lake- Lehman, took second place in the junior high division. Dallas student Chris Larson also built a robot to compete at this junior high event titled Robo-Billiards. He built ‘it at home and brought it to school unassembled. His teammate John Thompson helped put it together and paint it. His robot had to push billiard balls into the four coffee-can pockets in a five minute time period. “We've been practicing at school and the carpet here is thinner and more packed down so I'll be able to drive it better,” said Chris before the event. He was right as the team earned third place medals for their ef- forts. Teams _ prepare for the Olympiad in a variety of ways. The Stroudsburg schools which took first place in both team cat- C ti i “CHEERS” “SHEAR MADNESS”... Y PARK...CAMB TOURS...A RIDE ON BOSTON'S AMPHIBIOUS WWII “DUCK” The ‘Pops’ tops the stops on our Boston Pops & Fun Tour June 19-21! BOSTON POPS CONCERT AT SYMPHONY HALL...D TV'S PUB.. Sel IN ERACTIVE ke- rs Sth eradirs Emily Deubler and Eric Stankiewics iade on ire eniry for the egg dp INNER AT STAGE MYSTERY RIDGE & BOSTON + BROADWAY: “MOVIN OUT” April 5 PRODUCERS” April 26... 1-DAY TRIPS “LA : BOHEME” May 3..."PHANTOM OF y Sasade, Sightseeing, Mount Vernon, eruon, Adingon AT FAMILY PARKS! | THE OPERA” july 12. “MAMMA SENECA FAKE WINE AND » KNOEBELS GROVE: MIA” Aug. 2... 42nd ST.” Aug 16... WEEKEND ril 26- 2 Ww cating vi Elysburg, PA July 16, Aug, 13 “HAIRSPRAY” Sept. 20 reats, Boat Tour on Seneca Lake, 3 Meals . CAMEL BACK WATERPARK: 3 LITTLE BAKERS: “Joseph” April 6 |* CAPE COD "SHIP AHOY" May 15-18 Tannersville, PA July 23 « ELLIS ISLAND April 12, May 17 + HERSHEYPARK: « BALTIMORE INNER HARBOR May 3 Hershey, PA July 26 ¢ LONGWOOD GARDENS AND THE May » SESAME PLACE: NEMOURS MANSION May 3 Langhorne, PA August 5 * NYC RIDING TOUR AND WORLD » GREAT ADVENTURE: YACHT BRUNCH CRUISE May 18 MULTI-DAY TOURS « WASHINGTON DC CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL April 4-6 Reserved Seats for Martha's Vineyard, 10-Mile Ocean Drive w Newport, Battdeship Cove, Hyannis « MYRTLE BEACH AND CHAR 18-24 Oceanfront hotel in Myrtle Beach, 3 Shows, Boat Cruise, 13 Meals, Sightseeing! + BRANSON, ST. LOUIS AND THE PASSION PLAY IN EUREKA SPRINGS TON L 821-3855www.martztrailways.com--800-432-8069 Jackson, New Jersey Aug. 9 * GETTYSBURG June 21, August 9 23.38 Three biz shows in Branson! YANKEES HOME B na ALL + SIGHT & SOUND June 21 “Abraham” Jas iaas Al ST BURG Al f TWINS PENING DAY * BUCKS COUNTY AND PEDDLERS JAMESTOWN Aug 11-13 Also includes ia DW APRIL 7 VILLAGE Train Ride June 28, Sept. 13 Plantation Tours & fea, entertainment, 4 meals DEVIL RAYS APRIL 13 Charter S88. MARTZ TOURS ECE FOR DELUXE SEATS! : ih & i egories have actual courses to prepare for the event. Lake- Lehman's teams are comprised of their gifted education classes and they prepare in class. Dallas High School's team, under the Lauren Yurko, left, and Debra Ketchner, Dallas Middle School eighth graders, earned third place ribbons in the Science of Fitness tournament. Melissa R. direction of science teacher Mike Cherinka, is a club that meets throughout the year during a weekly “flex” period. Two of those team members, Joe Bednash and Matt Blockus, took third place for Write In Do It. “They put me in a room with a thing build out of K-nex. I had to write a description of how it was built and then Matt had to put it together just by following my instructions,” said Joe. Dallas Middle School students started meeting after school in the late fall to get ready for the March competition. Participants were chosen from the most in- terested, dedicated, and quali- fied of those who attended the many after school practices. Teams and events were picked and preparation began in earnest in mid-February. The Bridge Building, Mission Possible and Egg Drop teams worked over the last several months to perfect their projects. The bridge, which was con- structed ahead of time, had to meet certain specifications and be able to hold 15 kg of weight for five seconds. “It is really nice to see kids get this excited about science.” Jean Lipski Lake-Lehman team coach “Our bridge didn’t break,” ex- claimed Megan McDonald to her teammates shortly after the event. Egg Drop competitors are giv- en 10 straws, 10 Popsicle sticks, five rubber bands, 50 cm of string, 75 cm of masking tape, a piece of paper, a raw egg and 30 minutes. They need to put to- gether a container to safely hold an egg for a drop of over 15 feet. All the weeks of practice and preparation paid off for the Dal- las Middle School team of Drew Slocum and Katie Gilligan. Their egg was one of only two out of 27 to not break when it hit the floor. Their near bulls-eye land- ing earned them first place medals. Drew, Slocum also won: a third place medal with his teammate, Katelyn Fritzges, for Science Crime Busters where the stu- dents are given clues at a mur- der scene and they need to ana- lyze them. After school study with parent volunteer, Jane Ketchner, paid off for the DMS Science of Fit- ness team. Lauren Yurko and Debra Ketchner earned second place medals in the event, which involves a written test of the team’s knowledge of nutrition, diet, exercise and the digestive system. Third place honors at both levels went to Lake- Lehman students. Kayla Piatt and Ryan Bloom won in the high school division and Eddie Don- ahue and Chloe Kalma won in the junior high division. “The Science Olympiad strengthens the kids’ imagina- tion and creativity,” said Lipski. “It is really nice to see kids get this excited about science.” I give it a big thumbs up? n House March 22 9:30 am — 3:00 pm | Ope In independent surveys conducted by UCLA, College Misericordia students gave the school the highest level of satisfaction-with everything from quality of education to faculty access, campus beauty and safety. To find out how a College Misericordia education can exceed your highest expectations, visit our open house. You'll give it a'big thumhs up! Call 1-866-CM and Me. email: admiss@misericordia.edu 1: MISERICORDIA misericordia.edu * Higher Education Research Institute National Survey of Freshmen. © 2003 College Misericordia, founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of Dallas. LLEGE Dallas, PA True 0 He. BE Ee Sei Ae
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