UC High was the host of the 2014 San Diego Regional Science Olympiad Competition for the first time on February 22. From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 80 teams from 25 high schools competed in 22 Division C events designed for students grades 9-12, according to the San Diego Science Olympiad website (sandiegoso.org).
“Science Olympiad is a national competition where students compete in science-related events. Some events are test (knowledge)-based and some are ‘build’ events, where students build different creations to be tested. There are elementary, middle, and high school competitions,” said Science Olympiad Head Coach Maureen Quessenberry. According to Quessenberry, UC High had three competing teams and each member competed in three events.
“The competition went pretty well this year,” said Science Olympiad President Nicolette Brannan. “We placed fifth overall, which means we are going to State.”
“For the last several years, the regional competition was held at Del Norte High.Last year there were some problems at Del Norte and the competition needed to find a new home. I was approached by Don Whisman, science program manager for SDUSD, to see if UC might be willing and available,” said Quessenberry.
“Hosting the event is also an amazing way to showcase the caliber and efforts of our school and club,” said Science Olympiad Vice President Paul Sud.
“Hosting such a large event here has definitely been a challenge. The athletic department really bent over backwards to accommodate our needs to use the gym and the school for the event. Also, UC High teachers have been great about letting us use their classrooms for the event,” said Quessenberry.