Science skills put to the test at STAR Science Olympics

STAR Catholic students pitted their science minds against each other for the inaugural STAR Science Olympics.

The event, March 14, brought grades 7 to 9 students from around St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division together in friendly, but fierce competition, hosted at STAR’s newest addition Ècole Mother d’Youville School.

With one team per grade, teams of two girls and two boys per team set out to solve three distinct challenges. The first challenge was to create a vessel that would nest an egg safely enough that the egg would not damage if the vessel and its fragile cargo were dropped from an ever increasing height. The second challenge saw students build a bridge to support an increasing amount of weight. The final challenge was to craft a tinfoil boat that would not take on water and would stay afloat if weight was added.

Father Leduc Catholic School, from Leduc, finished in first place. Father Lacombe Catholic School in Lacombe placed second, while Christ the King School in Leduc came in third. Teams from St. Augustine School in Ponoka, Sacred Heart School in Wetaskiwin, Ècole Mother d’Youville School in Beaumont, St. Anthony School and Holy Trinity School both in Drayton Valley also competed.

“The day was fantastic. The students were very excited and are already asking about next year,” said Michelle Symes, Director of Student Services and event organizer.

The event was born out of collaboration with school admin teams, and students had to write a 50-word paragraph on why they love science in order to qualify to represent their respective school.

Father Arlan Parenteau, from St. Vital Parish led a blessing, followed by remarks from Superintendent Dr. Troy Davies to officially open the STAR Science Olympics.

“It’s really part of an increasing number events that we have for students in STAR Catholic. We have STAR LIGHT Day, STAR Track Day, and now the STAR Science Olympics,” said Davies. “We may be a large school division, geographically, but events like this let students know we are a community and it truly serves to bring us closer.”

Symes thanks the teachers, central office staff who served as judges, and all the students for making the first year of the event a success.