Old Saybrook introduced its first chapter of Science Olympiad this school year, run by freshman Divena Rai and advised by UCONN ECE Science teacher Ms. Dionne. This club is an opportunity for students hoping to enter the STEM field, and teach valuable overall skills, even if students don’t fully choose that specific path. The Science Olympiad chapter is here at Old Saybrook high school because, as Divena Rai said, “I started it because I felt like there weren’t that many STEM clubs available for kids at the high school, and I knew if I was interested in having a career in STEM, there were probably other kids like me that would want to [participate in a club like this].” Rai felt that she and her peers didn’t have enough extracurricular ways to express and enhance their STEM interests. Instead of waiting around for something to happen or for a teacher to start a club, freshman Rai took it upon herself to start something new for OSHS, a start to hopefully a long line of other clubs and branches jumping into the STEM field.
Science Olympiad is a national K-12 STEM competition where students use hands-on activities, and includes written tests across a variety of science related topics. The Science Olympiad event takes place on multiple dates, and Old Saybrook high school is participating in the event on February 21st. The Science Olympiad is like a track meet, in the way that schools from all across the state come to a selected location to participate in a variety of STEM related events, and compete to win first place in each category. The events can range from problem solving, written tests, general knowledge, and even projects such as vehicles made beforehand STEM categories that many of the events are based around are Life, Personal & Social Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science & Chemistry, Technology and Engineering, and Inquiry and Nature of Science. It’s nationally recognized, making it on resumes and college applications, and teaches many life skills even beyond the stem field.
The Science Olympiad Club is an opportunity to use and improve students’ existing knowledge and skills in the STEM field. It’s a way for students to create or prepare something along the lines of their interests, and get a sense of how their product would compete with others interested in the same field. Because the Science Olympiad is nationally recognized and well renowned, it could give students that upper hand and step ahead when it comes to competing for colleges, internships, and sometimes even jobs. According to Ms. Dionne and Rai, the club helps teach students how to collaborate, how to work towards something and pull through with preparing projects, ultimately increasing general knowledge. Currently, the Science Olympiad is lacking interest from students and awareness. Many students don’t know how to get affiliated with it, or even know of its existence. Rai said, the best way to join if you are interested, is to directly email her, or Dionne. Additionally, since Science Olympiad is a brand new club, the funding is limited, and is what is holding the club back the most. Dionne is planning on setting up fundraisers such as bake sales and PJ days in order to increase funding.
