On a day for roses, it was all about STEM at UCI on Saturday.
More than 650 students from 17 middle schools and 28 high schools spent a good part of Valentine’s Day competing in the 30th Annual Orange County Regional Science Olympiad on the campus of the University of California, Irvine.
For the uninitiated, Science Olympiads are like academic track meets, with a series of 23 STEM-related team events in each division. Saturday’s contest was billed as the largest science competition in Orange County, challenging participants in such disciplines as biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, astronomy and geology.
When all was said and won, the top five Division B teams (those are the middle schools) and all seven Division C teams (the high schools) earned the right to advance to the state Science Olympiad, which will be held April 4 at Canyon High School in Anaheim.
Here are the results from this weekend’s regional showdown:
DIVISION B (MIDDLE SCHOOLS)
1st place: Jeffrey Trail Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
2nd place: Kraemer Middle School, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
3rd place: Ladera Vista Middle School, Fullerton School District
4th place: Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
5th place: Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
6th place: Cerro Villa Middle School, Orange Unified School District
DIVISION C (HIGH SCHOOLS)
1st place: Troy High School, Fullerton Joint Union High School District
2nd place: University High School, Irvine Unified School District
3rd place: Valencia High School, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
4th place: Northwood High School, Irvine Unified School District
5th place: Woodbridge High School, Irvine Unified School District
6th place: Canyon High School, Orange Unified School District
7th place: Irvine High School, Irvine Unified School District
For more information about the Orange County Regional Science Olympiad, or to learn how your school can participate in future competitions, contact OCDE’s Dean Gilbert at 714-966-4291.