The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Science Olympiad team placed second in the Northeast Regional Tournament held at Arkansas State University at Newport on March 15.
The team’s finish secured a berth into the state competition that will be held on April 12 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Science Olympiad is a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting science education through conducting competitive science tournaments.
Dr. Burt Hollandsworth, a chemistry Instructor of Distinction who serves as the team’s adviser, credited two students — Michelle Li of Sherwood and Aarush Goyal of Little Rock — for forming the team after previously competing on teams at their sending schools. The two are co-presidents of the team with Li also serving as a coach.
Several students earned individual recognition during the competition, including:
• the team of Kemdi Ekeanyanwu of Little Rock and Collisa Bucknor of Little Rock, second place, Anatomy and Physiology;
• the team of Aarush Goyal and Kaiyan Yu of Benton, first place, Chemistry; and
• the team of Donovan Hurarte of Little Rock and Winston Wang of Hope, second place, Ecology.
Other team members are Anna Le of Fort Smith, Aum Patel of Bryant and Tatum Polzin of Little Rock.