A team of middle and high school students from Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) recently ranked third and fourth, respectively, against the best science students in the region at the 2023 Orange County Regional Science Olympiad Tournament at UC Irvine.
After demonstrating their scientific expertise, the OCSA Science Olympiad team will advance to the state championships in April at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. This is the seventh year in a row that the OCSA team has advanced to the state competition.
The OCSA Science Olympiad team includes 30 students from grades 7 through 12, representing a wide variety of art disciplines across 14 different conservatories. Every student on the team scored at least one medal during this year’s regional competition.
With the mentorship teacher advisers, Ms. Jessica Daniel and Ms. Heather Jonson, the OCSA students medaled in 20 of the 23 individual events. They were honored with first place in the Codebusters, Fast Facts, Green Generation, and Solar System events; second place in the Experimental Design, Road Scholar, and Sounds of Music events; third place in the Anatomy & Physiology, Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Forestry, and Roller Coaster events; fourth place in the Storm the Castle event; fifth place in the Bio Process Lab, Bridge, Can’t Judge a Powder, Meteorology, Rocks & Minerals, and Wheeled Vehicle events; and sixth place in the Write It Do It event.
This competition gives OCSA students the opportunity to show that they are not only artistically talented, but challenge themselves and thrive academically as well.
"The rigor of these exams and labs are at the university level and it is truly incredible to see these students rise to that challenge and continuously strive for improvement," said Ms. Daniel.
The Southern California Science Olympiad is a chapter of the larger Science Olympiad international nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to science education, increasing student passion for science subjects, and providing celebratory recognition for student and teacher achievements.