Students shine at Science Olympiad
BYMELANIEWAITE Special to the News

Second in Sumo Bots From left: R.J. Burns Seth Rejda and Nick Bookout took second place at the recent National Science Olympiad in Sumo Bots, a trial event. Submitted Photo

The medal count was seven, in three events, as Gulf Breeze Middle and Gulf Breeze High Schools represented Florida at the National Science Olympiad at the University of Wichita in Kansas Saturday, May 19.

Gulf Breeze Middle

R.J. Burns, Seth Rejda, and Nick Bookout placed second in the trial event Sumo-Bots; Hunter Bradshaw and Nick Gupta were third in Meteorology; and Nick Musmansky and Vincent Costers collected sixth place medals in Rocks and Minerals. Nathan Gupta and Katie McIver just missed medals with a seventh in Anatomy.

They led teammates Ryan Burke, Will Spearing, Joey Finelli, Eric Burke, Alyse Tack, Andrew Clark, Chau Ho, Evan Bernard and alternates Sarah Woods and Alex Williams to a 27th place finish among 60 teams in their division.

Middle School coaches are teachers Deborah Cathey, Sharon Schaeffner, Casey Fearon, Mike Ruth, and Bob Smith; parents Lisa and Sunil Gupta, Patty Burke, Frances Spearing, Scott Musmansky, Ellen Finelli, Chris Costers, Roberta Harvey, Chris Henderson, Griet Roes, Mr. Rejda, and Jerry Clark; and GBHS student Ryan Henderson.

Submitted Photo Wise weathermen Nick Gupta and Hunter Bradshaw took third place in Meteorology at the recent National Science Olympiad.

Funds for the trip were provided by Platinum Sponsors Compass Bank, Santa Rosa County School Board, Siemens Building Technologies Inc., and Silver Bullet Technology Inc.; Gold Sponsors Capital Trust Agency; Gulf Breeze Jr. Optimist Club, and Gulf Breeze Optimist Club; and Silver Sponsors Baskerville-Donovan Inc., Bill Pullum Realty, BI-LO Inc., Gulf Breeze Rotary Club, Moulton Properties, NAPAATI, Raymond B. Palmer-PA, Renfroe-Zieman-PA, Santaa Rosa Orthopedic Associates- PA, and Scoggins III Inc.

Gulf Breeze High

Gulf Breeze High team members had two top-10 finishes. Ryan Henderson, Ryan Kent, and Tiffany Sharar were one place out of the medals with a seventh in Experiemental Design, while Ryan Henderson and Jon Villanueva took ninth place in Sounds of Music.

Submitted Photo 'Rock' solid Nick Musmansky and Vincent Costers took sixth place in Rocks and Minerals at the recent National Science Olympiad.

They and teammates Colin Burke, Kelsey Campbell, Jake Conner, Will Dirschka, Kyle Finelli, Lauren Musick, Logan Rejda, Megan Schaeffner, Clayton Walden, Stewart Williams, Alex York and alternate Rachel Harvey placed 40th among the 60 teams in their division.

High School coaches who attended the competition are Sue Cundiff, Robyn Ludlum and parent Pam Dirschka.

Sponsors who helped make the trip possible are the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air conditioning; Baskerville Donovan; BiLo-Brunos; Capital Trust Agency; GBHS PTSO; Gulf Breeze Optimists; Gulf Breeze Rotary; Mike Papantino; Pensacola Beach Optimists; Pete Moore Chevrolet; Playhard Music; Santa Rosa County School Board; and Liz Yelverton.

Science Olympiad

The 23rd annual National Science Competition provided a forum for 120 teams from 45 states and Canada to compete in more than 40 events that make science fun, yet educational. The 15-member teams, in high school and junior divisions, qualified by claiming the top spots in their state Science Olympiads.

During the tournament, students analyzed crime scene evidence, designed and built Rube Goldberg-like devices that used a series of energy transfers to accomplish a task, built devices that can launch projectiles by using a falling counterweight, and designed musical instruments, and faced numerous other challenging events.

This year's theme, "Soaring into Science," reflects the city of Wichita's prominence in the aircraft industry- four major airplane manufacturers are located in Kansas' largest city- and WSU's wind tunnel, a virtual reality laboratory and a composites research operation. NIAR has four designated FAA Centers of Excellence.

Close to 4,000 students, coaches, parents, and other spectators converged on the WSU campus for the event.

Matt Stinemetze, a 1998 aerospace engineering graduate of WSU, was the keynote speaker. As an engineer for one of the most exciting aero-tech companies, Scaled Composites, Stinemetze was part of the company's team that launched the first private spacecraft into suborbital altitude.