Science Olympiad Team Shines at Virginia Tech

Last weekend, Tandem's Science Olympiad team competed in the Virginia Tech Invitational Science Olympiad tournament. Medals were awarded to 1st-5th place in each event and trophies were awarded to 1st-5th place overall school performance. 18 teams representing 11 schools from across Virginia & North Carolina as well as Indiana (Northridge HS) competed in this tournament, which was completely hosted and run by members of the Science Olympiad at Virginia Tech student group. The level of competition ranged from teams fielding participants in only a few events to national-level teams making for quite an experience! Events were administered at the state tournament rules level, which was a step above both the Flint Hill Invitational and the official VASO regional tournament to be held at TFS. This gave our teams an excellent chance to examine their readiness for the state tournament and see how they compare to some very competitive schools at a higher level of difficulty. Further, it gave us a sneak peek at next week's tournament as the team from Albemarle High School participated in this tournament. I am delighted to share that TFS earned medals in 8 official events at this tournament, with TFS Emerald (formerly Badger Force 1) earning medals in 5 events and TFS Obsidian (formerly Badger Force 2) earning medals in 3 events. In addition to the 23 official events, VT students ran 2 unofficial events for fun - Disney Trivia (a test on Disney animated movies) and Hokie Hunt (a team scavenger hunt). Excitingly, Sawyer R and Maggie W on TFS Emerald earned 1st place in Disney Trivia and TFS Obsidian earned 4th place in Hokie Hunt, with a big shout out to the effort of Hayes B, Henry C, and Nati Y! Finally, I am thrilled to share that thanks to the overall team score of TFS Emerald in official events, TFS earned a 5th place trophy! The other teams earning trophies for 1st-4th place were Northridge HS (1st), Lake Braddock SS (2nd), Blacksburg HS (3rd), and McLean HS (4th). This fantastic team performance also earned our students the pleasure of tossing me into the hotel pool, making for a fun and memorable experience. Due to QYLC and other conflicts, some students needed to assist in events that they are not normally assigned to. Following are Tandem's teams that earned a medal: Ecology-TFS Obsidian (Otis H, Nati Y): 5; Entomology-TFS Obsidian (Jack J, Nati Y): 4; Forensics-TFS Emerald (Emma P*, Maggie W): 5; Fossils-TFS Obsidian (Kavi M, Nati Y): 3; Helicopter-TFS Emerald (Mary R, Addie T): 3; Robot Tour-TFS Emerald (John B, Owen S): 3; Tower-TFS Emerald (Ty B, Eli C): 4; Wind Power-TFS Emerald (Oscar D, Jack M): 5. Check out some photos, and this is a link to the pool toss video.