Creating bottle rockets, precisely using laser lights, and using interpersonal skills and linguistic communication skills to build an object, were just some of the tasks that students tackled at the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad Competition on March 8, 2017, at Penn State Wilkes-Barre Campus.
Pictured are the participants. From left, top row: Alexandria Bien-Aime, Rachel Tuman, Mrs. Nichole Musewicz, Madison Weinczyk, Maggy Langendoerfer, Joseph Sweeney, Miranda Kubilus, Bridgette Summers-Flannery, Rachel Hoch, Celeste Orchard, and Mr. Josh Rowe. From left, bottom row: Alexandra Butler, Makayla Gregory, Lena Piccolino, Courtney Petrilak, Sydney Ely, Abigail Lopez, and Jenny Guadagno.
Team mates Celeste and Rachel, 8th grade, placed first in their event called Write it/ Do it. The girls explained how the event involved them very precisely communicating with each other. For the event, Celeste had the task of looking at materials to build an object. Then she had a limited time to write extremely clear directions for Rachel to use to make the object. Finally, Rachel had a set amount of time to create the object based on Celeste’s directions.
Celeste, who is used to working by herself to complete tasks efficiently, said this experience helped her to build her confidence in others’ work abilities.
“I gained trust in other people because I knew that Rachel understood my instructions,” Celeste explained.
Rachel, also, learned a lesson from the experience involving analytical skills.
“I learned how to read information carefully because I had to pay attention to what Celeste said to do without any other instruction,” Rachel said. Rachel further explained that the event was challenging because she had more materials in front of her than she needed to build the object. Therefore, making Celeste’s directions even more instrumental in the construction process.
