The Kennedy High School Science Olympiad Team A team achieved fourth place out of 41 teams in the Nassau East Regional Science Olympiad competition, on Feb. 3, securing a spot at the New York State Competition in Syracuse in March.

Both Kennedy Science Olympiad Teams A and B competed in more than 20 different scientific events and racked up a grand total of 43 medals. The Kennedy B team earned 17th place.

“Achieving so many medals in such a wide variety of subjects is a testament to how hard the students have worked for the last five months studying, preparing, building and practicing for their events,“ said Science Chair Robert Soel.

Science Olympiad coaches Russell Lella, Helmut Schleith, Dan Jantzen and Alexis Vandergoot were integral to the team’s success.
“Being a part of the John F. Kennedy Science Olympiad is a thrilling experience,” said team member Joshua Abramovich. “The feeling that you get from preparing for your events and then using all of the effort from preparing on the day of the exciting competition is the reason I do it every year.”

Katherine St. George said the team even brought on new friendships.

“Plus, it’s a really fun way to celebrate scientific enthusiasm,” she added.

They will advance to New York State competition on March 15 at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

Medal winners:
Marielena Delgado and Jonathan Ivers: Astronomy, 10th Place
Jenn Field and Andrew Brinton: Chem Lab, 6th Place
Jack Racer and Hugh Cheung: Chem Lab, 2nd Place
Jack Kelly and Dan Wadler: Circuit Lab, 5th Place
Kevin Ivers, Jack Racer, Jonathan Ivers: Codebusters, 4th Place
Whitney Sussman and Sam Marchuck: Designer Genes, 6th Place
Katherine St. George and Mikaela Milch: Disease Detectives, 2nd Place
Mikaela Milch and Summer Hasseck: Dynamic Planet, 3rd Place
Kevin Ivers and Sam Marchuck: Fermi Questions, 8th Place
Andrew Brinton and Jenn Field: Forensics, 9th Place
Jack Kelly and Jack Racer: Forensics, 7th Place
Jimmy Hayes and Katherine St. George: Fossils 2nd Place
Katherine St. George and Summer Hasseck: Herpteology, 1st Place
Jack Kelly and Dan Wadler: Mission Possible, 3rd Place
Brandon Lin: Mousetrap Vehicle, 2nd Place
Mikaela Milch, Katherine St. George, Sam Marchuck: Protein Modeling, 3rd Place
Seth Gorelik, Analisa Coppa, Jason Lehrfeld: Protein Modeling, 1st Place
Jack Kelly and Dan Wadler: Sound of Music, 9th Place
Jimmy Hayes and Hugh Cheung: Thermodynamics, 4th Place
Jimmy Hayes and Marielena Delgado: Water Quality, 2nd Place