By Kelly Vohland, Science Olympiad Head Coach and Emerson 4-5 Science Teacher
Congratulations to the 77 Emerson students who participated in this year’s Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad, held on Saturday, May 14, at Pioneer High School. Emerson was one of 40 schools from the county who competed, and our grade 2-5 students represented Emerson so well—we are very proud of their participation and achievements!
Congratulations to our terrific Science Olympians:
- GRADE 2: Dominick VanOyen, Max Park, Gillian Harrison, Erica Lee, Jack Corbett, Dom Nazario, Aoife Tang, Harper Cash, Zarina Chugh, Carter Dionne, Ian Theisen, Sameer Kheterpal
- GRADE 3: Robert Pandolfi, Frederick Debord, Aidan Drain, Kiran Sinha, Pierce VanOyen, Anjali Brahmasandra, Violet Weizer, Jayden Im, Sophia Kleer, Maxine Bruienne, Naveen Owens, Preston Zabinko, Maddie Lowen, Jack Huber, Arya Monroe, Eliot Ahn, Chase Weaver, Ateesh Lath, James Stross
- GRADE 4: Nikash Bhagat, Andy Zhang, Parini Rao, Lucas Caswell, Derek Brewer, Adelyn Boucher, Emma Zamansky, Neel Moudgal, Carson Strauss, Lucas Nor, Anya Akhoury, Ava Hall, Anne Marie Begola, Teddy Tolbert, Faith Pearson, Chiara Bichakjian, Maia Hodgin, Micah Jacobson, Simran Kheterpal, Addison Kim, Margaret Loszewski
- GRADE 5: Audrey Weizer, Jonah Lee, Jay Vijan, Elena Sweeney, Lily Kubisiak, Andreanna Ulery, Ava Hueng, Michelle Mobius, Lance Caswell, Anthony VanOyen, Alexandra Ulery, Maya Mustata, Diego Del Rio, Yasmine Chugh, Katie Swallow, Kira Saporsky, Marin Heusel, Katarina Bauer, Anshi Pacha, Asha Owens, Emily Cooper, Bruno Hohn, Sydney Shea, Zack Czartoski, Emma Hudson
Emerson took home medals in 29 events this year, with 83% of participants earning a medal and 60% placing in the top 5!
- GRADE 2:
- Barge Building 2nd Place (Max, Dominick)
- On Target Honorable Mention (Ian, Carter)
- GRADE 3:
- On Target 2nd Place (Aidan, Jack & Robert)
- Photon Phun 3rd Place (Anjali, Sophia, & Jayden)
- To Infinity & Beyond 3rd Place (Naveen & Preston)
- Map Reading 3rd Place (Kiran, Chase)
- Gravity Racer Honorable Mention (Anjali, Arya)
- Pasta Bridges Honorable Mention (Violet, Maxine)
- Mystery Architecture Honorable Mention (Ateesh, James)
- GRADE 4:
- Disease Detectives 1st Place (Neel, Micah, & Lucas N.)
- Write It, Build It 1st Place (Maia, Adelyn, Chiara, Teddy)
- Straw Tower 1st Place (Addison, Simran)
- Potions 2nd Place (Neel, Margaret)
- Estimania Honorable Mention (Parini, Andy)
- Back to Nature Honorable Mention (Faith & Emma)
- Water Rockets Honorable Mention (Adelyn, Faith, Nikash, and Carson)
- Mystery Architecture Honorable Mention (Ava, Anya)
- Circuit Wizardry Honorable Mention (Parini, Andy)
- GRADE 5:
- Potions 1st Place (Diego, Maya)
- Write It, Build It 1st Place (Emma, Alexandra, Audrey, & Katie)
- Straw Tower 2nd Place (Ava, Yasmine)
- Water Rockets 2nd Place (Zack, Bruno, Sydney, & Michelle)
- Disease Detectives 2nd Place (Elena, Lily, and Andreanna)
- May the Force Be with You 2nd Place (Anshi, Katarina)
- To Infinity & Beyond 4th Place (Kira, Asha)
- Back to Nature 5th Place (Marin, Emily)
- iCompute Honorable Mention (Jonah, Anthony, Jay)
- Photon Phun Honorable Mention (Diego, Lance)
If you see an event coach from Emerson, please take time to thank them for their time, commitment, and expertise. They are the reason Emerson students are able to participate in this great community-wide event!
Gr. 2-5 WESO Coaches: Christa Harrison, Julie Lee, Nghi Tran, John VanOyen, Ruchika Kheterpal, Sachin Kheterpal, Sean Theisen, Rashmi Chugh, Beth Nazario, Sundu Brahmasandra, Priya Varadan, Natalie Goodwin-VanOyen, Scott Drain, Amitabh Sinha, Michelle Weaver, Alon Weizer, Dana Debord, Sonal Owens, Stephanie Zabinko, Varsha Moudgal, Vivek Moudgal, Michael Loszewski, Ratin Akhoury, Lori Pearson, Margaret Hodgin, Mike Wilson, George Zhang, Bryan Begola,Venkat Rao, Paul Boucher, Morrie Lee, Joanna Kubisiak, Elizabeth Molina Sweeney, Ingrid Arias, Mircea Mustata, Luis Del Rio, Trish Heusel, Smita Patel, Al Pacha, Tom Czartoski, Lonnie Shea, Janice Carvette
Thank you to parents and friends who volunteered their time and skills at the event: Celina Kleer, Maria Bichakjian, Jessica Lowen, Pepjin Bruienne, Vanika Lath, Pete Pandolfi, Emily Heung, Jeanette Clute, Silvia Nor, Andrea Zamansky, Thor Helgeson, Beth Helgeson, Sarah Medura, Lisa Kutas, Allison Hong, Eleanor Sun, Robyn Bishop, Jeanne Cooper, Elaine Caoili, Beth Chimera, Christina Miller, Emily Marshall, (and Janice Huber, Shay Bachman, Christine Clark, Sara Monroe, Melissa Cash, and Christine Kim, who signed up but were not needed)
Emerson must provide an event supervisor each year in order to participate in WESO… special thanks to Mike Wilson for being the Water Rockets Event Supervisor (and for enduring 10 hours in the rain, wind, hail, and cold on Saturday!).Thank you to the many parents that helped with the ice cream party and brought food on Saturday—all help was appreciated!
And finally… thank you to Emerson colleagues who helped along the way: Mike Wilson, Marchell Burgess, Caleb Burgess, Robin Joye, Rose Hacker, Beth Muszkiewicz, Beth Anderson, Mike Shaw, and all the Emerson teachers who shared their rooms so we could practice!
