The Community Middle School Science Olympiad Team has claimed the national championship in the Science Olympiad. The CMS team went to the National Competition at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, in May to vie for the national title. During the previous five years of competitions Community Middle School placed 16th, 8th, and second.
Members of the Competition Team include Monika Mostowy, Moya Chin, Kathi Li, Shir Aharon, David Goldfinger, Peter Maa, Victoria Chang, Ryan Pais, Priya Marathe, Lekha Racharia, Gita Gnanadesikan, Gregory Doidge, Taylor Lee, Jamie Joseph, Isaac Cheng, Vidya Nandapurkar, Aparna Shankar, Jonathan Kaufman, and Aparaajit Sriram.
CMS coaches include Arthur Downs (CMS principal), Wanda Rinker, and Mort Levine. They were assisted by Joe Benci, Denise Weber, Virginia Baner, and Parris Lattanzio.
The event brings together the top teams from more than 40 separate state competitions. Both state and nationals include competitions based on physics, chemistry, and geology. Students are asked to apply the principles of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, problem-solving, and technology to events that ask competitors to do everything from constructing a bridge to reconstructing a crime scene.
This year’s theme was Albert Einstein because 2005 is the World Year of Physics, commemorating the centennial anniversary of Einstein’s pronouncement of his theory of relativity. Edward W. Kolb, co-author of “The Early Universe,” delivered the keynote address, “Beyond Einstein.”
Closing presentations were held at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts where students were awarded the Medal of Scientific Excellence by University of Illinois Nobel Laureates Paul Lauterbur and Anthony Leggett, and Nick Holonyak Jr., winner of the National Medal of Technology. For information about Science Olympiad visit www.nso.uiuc.edu.
