Schools

Stoughton High Science Olympiad Team Soars to Victory

Stoughton High hosted the third South Shore Science League Science Olympiad meet of the season Dec. 15, with the SHS team earning top spot.

The following is a press release from the Stoughton Public Schools:

If you walked through the halls of Stoughton High School Tuesday evening, you may have thought you were on the campus of MIT. 

In one lab students were analyzing satellite imagery, in another students were testing zero-emission vehicles, while around the corner investigators were gathering and analyzing evidence to solve a crime.  These events are just a sampling of the exciting activities taking place as Stoughton High school hosted the third South Shore Science League Science Olympiad meet of the season.

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Stoughton earned the top spot with 58 points in this four-school event beating out rivals Medway (52 points scored) Bridgewater-Raynham (36), and Oliver Ames (21).

The key to the success of the 25-member Black Knights team seems to be, appropriately enough, team chemistry.  

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Team captain Tim McGrath explained, “We work really well together, the seniors and more experienced members help out and mentor the newer kids.”  

Michael Carey has been coaching the team for 26 years and agrees saying, “We have a nice mix of all grade levels, they all support one another and there is great enthusiasm among this team. We have a diverse group with a wide range of interests and areas of expertise.”

The team’s wide knowledge base and experience paid off as the Black Knights earned medals in every event.

Kristina Nguyen and Joe Souto earned gold medals for Stoughton in the Remote Sensing event where they utilized remote sensing imagery to analyze information concerning Earth’s hydrosphere.

Arden Tran and Tom Ward took silver medals while Ben Call and Igor Pryadko took the bronze in the Boomilever event in which they designed and constructed a cantilevered structure for maximum efficiency.  

Stoughton also earned medals in the Gravity Vehicle event where students designed, constructed, and tested vehicles powered only by gravitational potential energy.  Robert Blint and Christina Solem took second place while the team of Alex Peixinho, Hunter Goodrich, and Christina Galyuk took third place.  

Abigail Roane, Steven Borst, and Zachary DeNapoli combined to earn silver medals in the Experimental Design event while Elias Tamarkin placed third in Forensics.

The team travels to Medway for the next event where they hope to have another strong performance.

Senior Sheldon Oliveira commented, “It is very challenging but a lot of fun, I am really looking forward to the next meet and then states.”  

When asked if there was any additional effort to excel this year in light of Mr. Carey’s impending retirement in June,  senior Nicholas Keith commented, “Mr. Carey is a great coach, and a good motivator and we want to win the league and do well at states for him.”

To be sure, both Mr. Carey and the entire SPS community is proud of our award-winning team!


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