Langley High School placed second in a regional Science Olympiad tournament held in Vienna Saturday, March 2. Gold medals were awarded to seniors Kelvin Niu, Aishvar Radhakrishnan and Tim Tsai, juniors Cliff Crawford, Na He Jeon, Leah Surratt and Katherine Tan, and sophomores Andrew Chen and Andrew Makris. Team members earned an additional 30 medals. Sponsor of the Division C team (ninth-12th grades) is Langley High chemistry teacher Leah Puhlick.
A total of 17 teams competed in 20 events testing members’ knowledge of science skills, processes and applications. The wide range of science disciplines included biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science and mathematics.
By Saturday, March 16, three regional Division C tournaments will have been held in the commonwealth. On April 27, 2013, 15 students from each regional section’s participating schools will advance to the state finals at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Then the winning team from one high school will spar in the National Science Olympiad Tournament at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, May 17-18, 2013.
The National Science Olympiad is an academic, interscholastic competition designed to increase student interest in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to improve the quality of science education. Nationally, over 350,000 students are involved in the Science Olympiad program.
Donations to fund the Langley High team's preparation for and travel to the state tournament may be made to Langley High School and sent to 6520 Georgetown Pike, McLean, or by calling 703-287-2700. Write "Science Olympiad" on the memo line.