Around THE POND
Sci Oly THIRTY TAFT STUDENTS TRAVELED
to the University of Connecticut in Storrs to compete in the Connecticut Science Olympiad last spring. They came home with eight medals, including a first-place win for Marcus Valenta ’19 and Ernest
Protas ’20 in the Chemistry Lab event, which required them to solve problems using scientific process skills in physical properties, and acids and bases. “Ernest Protas did a fantastic job as team captain,” notes science teacher
Jim Mooney, “and also gets a shoutout for winning three medals.” The weekend event brought 48 teams from across the state to the UConn campus. Each team was allowed a maximum of 15 members who competed in 23 different events. The events challenged competitors to apply their knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Some events required students to construct projects in advance, while others involved on-thespot problem-solving. Students competed in pairs for most events; most entered three events during the competition. Congratulations to all of Taft’s Science Olympiad team members and to the following 2019 medal winners:
TEAM A
> First Place, Chemistry Lab: Ernest Protas ’20 and Marcus Valenta ’19 Ernest Protas ’20
> Second Place, Circuit Lab: First Yinyord ’19 and Carolyn Yow ’19 > Third Place, Astronomy: Stefan Kim ’20 and Ernest Protas ’20 > Third Place, Fermi Questions: Peter Yu ’20 and Bill Lu ’19 > Third Place, Sounds of Music: Ernest Protas ’20 and Coco Zhang ’21
TEAM B
> Third Place, Mission Possible: Chris Pellegrini ’20 > Fourth Place, Chemistry Lab: Anna Serbina ’21 and Ben Le ’21 > Fourth Place, Write it, Do it: Theo Norledge ’21 and Eli Juvan ’22
Special thanks to team coaches David Hostage, Brian Norledge, and Jim Lehner, and to mentors Shannon Guidotti, Parker Washburn, Mike McAloon, and Dan Calore. j The Science Olympiad is a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting science education through competitive science tournaments. About 15,000 schools participate each year. The Science Olympiad is specifically cited in the National Science Standards as a model science activity.
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Taft Bulletin / SUMMER 2019