Moses Lake students win science competition

MOSES LAKE - Students from Moses Lake High School and Frontier Middle School are headed to the state Science Olympiad April 5 after excelling at the regional level.

The regional competition was March 15 in Spokane. The upcoming state competition is at Eastern Washington University.

A team from Moses Lake High School is advancing to state after winning first place. Two teams from Frontier Middle School are advancing to state after winning first and second place.

The winning teams at the state level bring their knowledge to a national competition in Washington, D.C. in May.

Science teacher Jennifer Carpenter, who is one of seven high school coaches, said students meet after school daily and are required to attend practice at least three days each week.

"It takes a ton of commitment from the kids," said coach Laurie Odegaard.

All 17 competing Moses Lake High School students won a medal at the regional competition, Odegaard said. One Moses Lake team won first place, and a second Moses Lake team won 11th place.

Carpenter said the high school has offered the program for 14 years and qualified for state each year. Students usually place within the top five teams at the state level, she said.

Carpenter said the success this year is related to the strong senior mentoring of younger students.

"Not only do coaches help kids, but kids help each other," Carpenter said.

She noted the eight seniors bring a lot of strength and experience to Moses Lake's teams.

In particular, Carpenter mentioned seniors Jen Braun and Hayden Jensen, who won gold in every event in which they competed. She said senior Andy Su also made a significant contribution to the Moses Lake team.

Senior Jen Braun, 17, said it is her fifth year participating in Science Olympiad.

"We did well in just about everything this year," Braun said. "We got 12 first-place medals out of 23 events. That's incredible."

After graduation, Braun plans to continue advancing in science at the University of Washington.

"I'm looking to go into computer science or astronomy as a major," Braun said.

Odegaard said the students are well-versed in many different areas of science. The majority of students in Science Olympiad major in science or engineering in college, she said.

The competition is career-based and gives students options for available careers, she said.

Odegaard said Frontier Middle School qualified for nationals several times and the high school qualified for nationals one time.

Tim Miller, one of five coaches at Frontier Middle School, said four teams from the middle school competed at the regional level, placing first, second, fourth and 11th.

"Our school's got a long history of having great success, and we're just getting back to that," Miller said.

Only two teams from each school can go to state, and generally two teams from the middle school qualify each year, he said.

He said more than 64 students from the middle school competed. Students earned 24 first-place medals, 30 second-place medals, 18 third-place medals, and 18 fourth-place ribbons.