“We were the highest placing public school,” said New Richmond coach Josh Grischow, whose 6th through 9th grade students medaled in 15 of the 23 events tested. New Richmond finished behind teams from Summit Country Day and St. Aloysius Gonzaga. New Richmond finished ahead of teams from public schools Kings, Wyoming, Lakota, Ross, National Trail and Twin Valley.
Members of the New Richmond Middle School Science Olympiad team proudly display their medals won at the Cincinnati regional competition. Picture are (from left)Griffin Mulvaney and Leah Wolfer (front row); Audrey Feiler, McKenzie Lauver, Jenny Roberts, and Marie Bezold (2nd row; Lindsay Slone, Eric Williams, coach Doug Smiddy, and Ian Wahoff (3rd row); and coach Tina Grippa, coach Josh Grischow, Matt Graham, Alex Grooms and coach Pam Hughes (back row. Not pictured: Freshman Abby Jewell, Jessica Nazareth, Paige Anderson, and Michaela Nordyke.“We improved a great deal from last year, moving up from 6th in the regional tournament to 3rd,” said Grischow, who was assisted by New Richmond Middle School science teachers Tina Grippa, Pam Hughes and Doug Smiddy. “Last year, we medaled in 10 events; this year, we medaled in 15.”
Science Olympiad teams competed individually or in groups in a series of 23 events which tested their knowledge of science skills, processes, and applications in a wide range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science, and mathematics.
The New Richmond team was comprised of Paige Anderson, Marie Bezold, Audrey Feiler, Matt Graham, Alex Grooms, Abby Jewell, McKenzie Lauver, Griffin Mulvaney, Jessica Nazareth, Michaela Nordyke, Jenny Roberts, Lindsay Slone, Ian Wahoff, Eric Williams and Leah Wolfer.
“I was really pleased with our team's performance and am excited about the opportunity to represent New Richmond at the state competition,” said Grischow.
The Ohio Science Olympiad is an academic, interscholastic competition designed to increase student interest in science and to improve the quality of science education. Nationally, more than 350,000 students are involved in the Science Olympiad program. In Ohio, the program is sponsored by The Ohio State University, the Ohio Department of Education, and the Science Education Council of Ohio.
With the middle school competition being expanded in include freshmen, Grischow was able to bring back four members of last year's team: Abby Jewell, Jessica Nazareth, Paige Anderson, and Michaela Nordyke.
“Their experience came in handy, with a haul of two 1st place medals, a 2nd place medal, and a 5th place medal,” said Grischow, whose team won three first place medals, five second-place medals and two third-place and fourth-place medals.
Five of the 8th graders were with last year’s team: Audrey Feiler, Jenny Roberts, Matt Graham, Lindsay Slone, and Ian Wahoff.
“They contributed to 10 more medals,” said Grischow. “I was especially impressed with Audrey Feiler, who paid her dues as an alternate last year. She stepped up this year, medaling in every event she entered, earning team MVP honors.”
Six newcomers to this year's team were Griffin Mulvaney, McKenzie Lauver, Marie Bezold, Leah Wolfer, Alex Grooms, and Eric Williams. All won medals.
“We know that we will be at a disadvantage at the state competition considering the size and demographics of our school and the relative lack of experience of our team.,” said Grischow. “This is only our 3rd year competing at the regional level, and it will be our first at state.
“We will do our best to prepare in the eight weeks we have until the tournament on April 30th. Luckily, we have the full resources of our outstanding science department, with Doug Smiddy joining veteran coaches Tina Grippa and Pam Hughes this year.”
New Richmond medal winners:
Placing 1st in Dynamic Planet were Paige Anderson and Michaela Nordyke;
Placing 1st in Experimental Design were Michaela Nordyke, Abby Jewell and Jessica Nazareth;
Placing 1st in Compute This were Matt Graham and Audrey Feiler;
Placing 2nd in Anatomy were Abby Jewell and Jessica Nazareth;
Placing 2nd in Battery Buggy were Alex Grooms and Eric Williams;
Placing 2nd in Crime Busters were Marie Bezold and Leah Wolfer;
Placing 2nd in Ecology were Marie Bezold and Audrey Feiler;
Placing 2nd in Solar System were McKenzie Lauver and Griffin Mulvaney;
Placing 3rd in Bottle Rocket were McKenzie Lauver and Griffin Mulvaney;
Placing 3rd in Meteorology were Matt Graham and Griffin Mulvaney;
Placing 4th in Awesome Aquifers were McKenzie Lauver and Leah Wolfer;
Placing 4th in Can’t Judge a Powder were Matt Graham and Ian Wahoff;
Placing 5th in Microbe Mission were Abby Jewell and Jessica Nazareth;
Placing 6th in Ornithology were Lindsay Slone and Ian Wahoff;
Placing 6th in Write It-Do it were Audrey Feiler and Jenny Roberts.
