In the next two weeks, South’s Science Olympiad team is going to Lansing to compete in the state competition. The competition will see South’s varsity team face 23 different events across a variety of different scientific disciplines.
Adelina Parikh ’25 is the team’s captain, and has been responsible for overseeing the preparations during the squad’s intensive weekly practices.
“We practice twice a week and it’s been going pretty well,” Parikh said. “It’s hard to keep up that motivation now that we have a quite a few weeks until the competition, but I try to make sure everyone’s as prepared as possible for their events, and that they have all the resources they need to get ready and a lot of the studying and preparation is done at home.”
With 23 events to compete in, South’s team is working on multiple projects to present, providing the contestants with plenty of work to complete in preparation.
“Basically each of the events could be anywhere from a lab event, where you will have a lab to complete, to a build event where you have to construct something,” Parikh said. “We’ll be judged on who can build the strongest yet lightest bridge, or build an electric vehicle that can stop on command.”
The adult advisor to the club is biology teacher Tabby Eldredge who is in her first year coaching the club.
“I’m more of a source of guidance because a lot of the students have to be pretty much self-motivated to do well,” Eldredge said. But I’m here to advise them on their projects and see what they need to adjust.”
One of the rising stars of the Olympiad’s team is Colin Hynous ’26, the club’s current treasurer who is eyeing a leadership position next year, and is heavily involved with the preparations.
“As the treasurer of Science Olympiad, I get to help out some of the newer people and help them understand how things work,” Hynous said. “There’s a lot of seniors graduating, so there will only be a few people from this year competing next so we’re gonna need more recruits.”
As for the team’s success, Parikh feels very confident.
“This year you get a medal if you place in the top view, and each event has their individual medals,” Parikh said. “Technically if you’re one of the top two teams, you could advance to the national competition. But the big priority is focusing on the success of individual players.”
