RHS Science Olympiad Team Advances to Nationals

Students smile

  • Published April 24, 2024

    For the second consecutive year, Ravenwood High won first place at the Tennessee State Science Olympiad and will be competing in the national tournament.

    Ravenwood High students took home five first-place individual awards in Division C of the competition. Sophie McAtee and Sophia Wang won the Astronomy category; Ajay Balaje and Sophie McAtee won the Geological Mapping category; Christina Chen and Ryland Hoskins won the Optics category; Rohan Kilaru and Aditya Pradeep won the Robot Tour category; and Gwen Moser, with the help of Grady Landry, won the Tower category.

    "The students performed really well under the added pressure of trying to repeat last year's Science Olympiad State championship," said RHS teacher Avrill Buersetta. "I am super proud of their tenacity and hard work all year long to get to this point. Everyone is looking forward to nationals in Michigan."

    Brentwood High students also competed and finished the tournament with four first-place wins. Katherine Perez and Katie Wang won the Codebusters category; Andrew Gan and Luke Haws won the Detector Building category; Trishita Paul and Teebro Paul won the Ecology category; and Ryan Gardocki and Andrew Gan won the Microbe Missions category. Their advisers are Margaret Bernard and Abigail Hocking. 

    Franklin High students also participated in the competition and placed sixth in two categories. Their adviser is David Crafton.

    Both Page and Sunset middle schools took part in the Division B competition. Page Middle students Srinika Narayanan and Vedha Girija Ramanan won the Microbe Mission category. Their adviser is Meredith Mitchell.

    The Science Olympiad is an organization devoted to improving the quality of science education. Teams of students develop their teamwork throughout the year before competing in regional tournaments. The top teams in each division advance to the State tournament to participate in competitive events, which may require students to possess knowledge of scientific concepts, understand scientific processes or be able to perform certain skills. At the State tournament, the top team in each division advances to the Science Olympiad National Tournament.

    Congratulations to the students who placed in the top six of their categories:

  • High School, Division C

    Anatomy and Physiology

    • Second: Trishita Paul and Andrew Gan, Brentwood High
    • Third: Faheem Mohamed and Chetan Yenigalla, Ravenwood High
    • Sixth: Abby Webb, Franklin High

    Astronomy

    • First: Sophie McAtee and Sophia Wang, Ravenwood High

    Codebusters

    • First: Katherine Perez and Katie Wang, Brentwood High
    • Second: Ajay Balaje and Brayden Zhang, Ravenwood High

    Detector Building

    • First: Andrew Gan and Luke Haws, Brentwood High
    • Second: Faheem Mohamed and Brayden Zhang, Ravenwood High

    Disease Detectives

    • Third: Katie Wang and Claire Zhang, Brentwood High
    • Fifth: Ajay Balaje and Brayden Zhang, Ravenwood High

    Dynamic Planet 

    • Second: Christina Chen and Claire Moser, Ravenwood High
    • Sixth: Melinda Cai and Audrey Yu, Brentwood High

    Ecology 

    • First: Trishita Paul and Teebro Paul, Brentwood High
    • Fourth: Claire Moser and Christina Qi, Ravenwood High
    • Sixth: Abby Webb, Franklin High

    Experimental Design

    • Second: Gabriela Estrada, Sophia Wang and Christina Qi, Ravenwood High
    • Third: Trishita Paul, Amy Park and Luke Haws, Brentwood High

    Fermi Questions

    • Second: Teebro Paul and Luke Haws, Brentwood High

    Flight

    • Fifth: Gabriela Estrada, Ravenwood High

    Forensics

    • Second: Aditya Pradeep and Chetan Yenigalla, Ravenwood High

    Forestry

    • Third: Claire Zhang and Dennis DeGennaro, Brentwood High
    • Fourth: Ryland Hoskins and Faheem Mohamed, Ravenwood High

    Geologic Mapping

    • First: Ajay Balaje and Sophie McAtee, Ravenwood High

    Microbe Mission

    • First: Ryan Gardocki and Andrew Gan, Brentwood High

    Optics

    • First: Christina Chen and Ryland Hoskins, Ravenwood High
    • Second: Katherine Perez and Amy Parks, Brentwood High

    Robot Tour

    • First: Rohan Kilaru and Aditya Pradeep, Ravenwood High

    Scrambler

    • Third: Ryan Gardocki and Dennis DeGennaro, Brentwood High

    Tower

    • First: Gwen Moser, Ravenwood High

    Wind Power

    • Fourth: Rohan Kilaru and Chetan Yenigalla, Ravenwood High
    • Fifth: TJ Gardocki and John Choi, Brentwood High

    Write It Do It

    • Third: Christina Qi and Sophia Wang, Ravenwood High

  • Middle School, Division B

    Air Trajectory

    • Sixth: Faiza Mohamed and Darsh Gurav, Page Middle

    Anatomy and Physiology

    • Third: Faiza Mohamed and Vedha Girija Ramanan, Page Middle

    Cant Judge a Powder

    • Fourth: Srinika Narayanan and Faiza Mohamed, Page Middle

    Crime Busters

    • Fifth: Ananya Sardesai and Jack Paiva, Page Middle

    Dynamic Planet

    • Fifth: Saanvi Pradhan and Albert Pan, Page Middle

    Ecology

    • Fourth: Jack Paiva and Darsh Gurav, Page Middle

    Experimental Design

    • Ananya Sardesai, Saanvi Pradham and Aditi Shankar, Page Middle

    Forestry

    • Fifth: Vedha Girija Ramanan and Amy Neenu Manu, Page Middle

    Meteorology

    • Fifth: Darsh Singh and Jacob Shalaby, Sunset Middle

    Microbe Mission

    • First: Srinika Narayanan and Vedha Girija Ramanan, Page Middle

    Optics

    • Sixth: Saanvi Pradhan and Albert Pan, Page Middle

    Road Scholar

    • Sixth: Alex McGinnis and Ben McGinnis, Sunset Middle

    Roller Coaster

    • Sixth: Jacob Shalaby and Alex McGinnis, Sunset Middle

    Wheeled Vehicle

    • Sixth: Quinn Gallagher and Ben McGinnis, Sunset Middle

    Wind Power

    • Fourth: Joseph Shalaby and Jacob Shalaby, Sunset Middle

    Write It Do It

    • Second: Grayson Garner and Vedha Girija Ramanan, Page Middle
    • Sixth: Joseph Shalaby and Ben McGinnis, Sunset Middle