Oak Harbor H.S, Jr. High Science Olympiad teams earn honors

        Twenty members of the Oak Harbor High School and Junior High Science Olympiad teams placed in the top 10 in several of their events at the Bowling Green State University regional held Saturday, Feb. 29.
        The high school team was the sixth-highest ranking school system and the junior high team was the eighth-highest ranking school system.
        This was Oak Harbor’s first year to field a junior high Science Olympiad Team. All eight members of the team medaled in at least one of their events.
        Hailey Schiets, Abby Pollauf, Alyssa Zetzer and Sam Hinkle all earned three top-six medals.
        Lainey Pollauf, Violet Warren, Alyha Marquez and Maddie Nissen all earned two top-six medals.
        Haley Lenke, Caitlynn Noble, Ella Dedes, Bryce Chanthavong, Phoebe Lenke and Nick Slagle also earned a top-six medal.
        Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division (high school and junior high). Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved.
        High school science teacher Lauretta Swint said she believes there is no substitute for the experience of competing and working together academically in a fun setting that goes above and beyond the classroom. Students are challenged to thoroughly read and understand complex event descriptions, manage time and deadlines and find reputable resources to study. The building events also require applying the engineering skills of designing, testing and modifying.