By Lauren McCollum 

The Science Olympiad team has gone to two practice competitions so far this season in preparation for state on April 7. After winning state last year the team has been working extremely hard and has been more focused than ever to meet their goal of winning it all again for the second year in a row.

“One of my favorite events to watch is the flying event because we always place at state in that event and there is a lot of suspense due to the rafters of the gyms that pose a real threat to a helicopter device that took months to perfect,” said Science Olympiad coach Alaina Appley.

The Mount Vernon team has some very strong events that have consistently placed this year, but they set another goal of each team member placing in the top three in at least one event.

“I think the competitions are the most fun because I really like competing and challenging myself,” senior Kate Liberko said. “My favorite event I’ve done is called Experimental Design and I have done this event for the past three years.”

The Experimental Design event is the only event that has three people in it. They are given random objects, and with those materials they have to create an experiment out of them. Then they need to complete the experiment, record the data, and also make a lab write up.

“I think it’s my favorite event because I really like my partners, and we work really well together. We also seem to place well in that event consistently which is nice too,” said Liberko.

Nationals this year will be held in Colorado which the team is very excited about.

“My favorite part of being the Science Olympiad coach is getting to watch the kids’ excitement when they meet our goals,” said coach Appley.