NEWS Walnut Valley Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 880 S. Lemon Avenue
March 9, 2012 Walnut, CA 91789
Walnut Valley Schools Qualify for Science Olympiad State Competition
WALNUT, CA—Four middle and high school Science Olympiad teams in the Walnut Valley Unified School District have qualified for the State Championships.
Congratulations to the teams representing Diamond Bar High, Walnut High, South Pointe Middle School, and Suzanne Middle School that vied during the regional tournament held February 25.
The teams competed among 46 teams at the contest held at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
The DBHS Brahma team took 8th Place and their custom-designed helicopter won 1st Place by remaining airborne for 2 minutes, 20 seconds during the competition. The team advised by teachers Angela Jensvold and Teresa Hebert.
Team Members are Alex Chang, Kevin Zhang, Vincent Pang, Favian Ho, Richard Koh,
Willie Lo, Jeannie Huang, Daniel Lee, Grant Shao, Jane Wu, Ian Pan, Debbie Du, Alan Li, Claire Huang, Irene Jiang, Kevin Chang, and Chris Chen.
“I was amazed that our helicopter was able to stay aloft for 2 minutes 20 seconds. Debbie and Irene worked all summer on that event and it really paid off,” Jensvold said.
This was just the second year that South Pointe Middle School sent a team to the prestigious science competition and they received one of the top awards!
The team received a 2nd Place award. And although there is an inquiry regarding one of their inventions, the group is thrilled to be advancing to the state championships.
“As our students say, as long as we do our best and we are learning, we are winning!” said Principal Susan Arzola.
Team members are Hannah Gao, Bernard Chen, Timothy Huang, Peyrin Kao, Jonathan Kuo, Sophia Lin, William Loo, Nicole Matsuda, Leslie Sim, Aishwarya Bhupatiraju, Niraj Ganesh, Richard Qi, Jennifer Wu, Alex Xie, Jimmy Zheng, with alternates Darin Chang and Kevin Ting.
The possibility of a 3rd place award is still a wonderful accomplishment for our team!” she said advisor science teacher Chrystal Dira.
The Walnut High School team will also advance to the state finals with a 4th Place award - the best placement the school has ever achieved, said advisor Tony Goossens.
Team members are Yalun Zhang – President/Captain, Paul Sonner – President/Captain, Alan Mao,Brian Sonner, Harris Liou, Nahlee Lin, Sihan Chen, Ted Zhu, Dorothy Yim, Misha Stouklov, Alicia Wei, Mason Yu, James Li, Wei Cao, Joseph Lim, and Jeremy Hsu.
Special thanks to the hospitality of Mr. & Mrs. Sonner who welcomed team meetings at their home every Friday night, and sponsors Mr. Stouklov and Mr. Sun.
Suzanne Middle School placed 7th overall award and a dozen students won individual medals. The school will also advance to the state competition. Team members included Vera Chu, jiachen Jiang, Jasmine Ng, Everett Sheu, Ellen Wang, William Widjaja, Angel Wong, Mike Bao, Caroline Huang, Brandon Lai, Leon Lam, Ayesha Ng, David Hou, Lena Trinh, and Kyle Truong.
"This was a great year for Suzanne," said advisor Brandy Hernandez. "It was a tremendous feat considering that this year we had every student on the team competing in new events for the first time."
“It was really fun, and it’s a great experience to be representing our school and supporting our team.” Said 8th grader Ellen Wang.
The 27th annual Southern California State Science Olympiad will be at Canyon High School in Anaheim on April 14.
Science Olympiad is one of the premiere science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 6,200 teams in 50 states.