Fulton Science Academy Private School Wins Big in Science Olympiad Tourney

In a record-breaking performance, Fulton Science Academy Private School Science Olympiad Teams took first, second, and third places at the Science Olympiad Middle School Regional Tournament held at the University of North Georgia Gainesville Campus on Saturday, February 15. FSA 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade students won gold medals in 18 of the 23 events covering earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.  The 41 team members won a total of 107 medals.  “Our students worked incredibly hard preparing for this tournament,” said head coaches Pam Walsh and Gloria Stathos. “We started in August. Each event meets at least an hour a week after school or on weekends and each student participates in three to six events. A lot of our parents help out as well, so it’s a big commitment for the entire family.” The school now qualifies to send one team of fifteen students to the state tournament to be held March 22 at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta. “Under Science Olympiad rules, only one team from each school can advance to state,” explained Pam Walsh.

Events in which the school did particularly well include Boomilever (a balsa building/engineering event), Disease Detectives (epidemiology), Dynamic Planet (glaciers and climate change), Entomology (insects), Experimental Design, Helicopters, Road Scholar (map interpretation), Rotor Egg Drop (a balsa building/engineering event), and Sounds of Music (physics of sound and instrument construction).

The team will now focus on the finer details in preparing for the state tournament. “Our goal is to qualify for the National Tournament by placing first or second at state,” said Gloria Stathos. “Georgia has some really strong teams and every year the competition gets tougher.”

Here are the results for each event:

Anatomy – coached by Mrs. Ambari

1^st Place – Hasan Unal and Araneesh Pratap

3^rd Place – Sanjeev Uppalari and Prajwal Vedula

Boomilever – coached by Mr. Seker

2^nd  Place Sule Anik and Faith Lucas

3^rd  Place Soleil Moffitt and Susanne Deeb

4^th  Place Nadine Haddad and Christina Wang

Can’t Judge a Powder – coached by Dr. Kasani

2^nd Place – Vikram Ruppa-Kasani and Hasan Unal

3^rd Place – Sarah Lucas and Soleil Moffitt

Crime Busters – coached by Dr. Kasani

2^nd Place – Vikram Ruppa-Kasani and Hasan Unal

Disease Detectives – coached by Mrs. Lewis

1^st Place -- Nadir Lewis and Brian Shoffeitt

2^nd Place – Akash Bhatt and Prajwal Vedula

3^rd Place – Sarah Lucas and Katherine Li

Dynamic Planet – coached by Mrs. Walsh

1^st Place -- Aditya Choudhari and Jean Moorman

3^rd Place – Maryam Unal and Callie Webster

4^th Place – Matthew Stafford and Christina Wang

Entomology – coached by Mrs. Butler

1^st Place – Faith Lucas and Aditya Choudhari

2nd Place – Nadia Yanasak and Maya Shoffeitt

4^th Place – Susanne Deeb and Ivo Bakovic

Experimental Design – coached by Mrs. Stathos

1^st Place – Maryam Unal, Jennifer Near and Sophie Richardson

2^nd Place – Simon Wang, Sule Anik, and Mira Mutnick

4^th Place – Matthew Stafford, Akash Bhatt, and Nadine Haddad

Helicopters – coached by Mrs. Walsh

1^st Place – Faith Lucas and Nadir Lewis

2^nd Place – Susanne Deeb and Jennifer Near

Heredity – coached by Ms. Doraiswami

1^st Place – Araneesh Pratap and Karuna Kumar

4^th Place – Sruthi Chatrathi and Aditi Tekkam

Meteorology – coached by Mr. Ambardekar

1^st Place – Neel Ambardekar and Sule Anik

2^nd Place – Ananya Terala and Sruthi Chatrathi

Metric Mastery – coached by Ms. Fichter

3^rd  Place – Vikram Ruppa-Kasani and Elaine Wen

Road Scholar – coached by Mrs. Stathos

1^st Place – Neel Ambardekar and Mira Mutnick

2^nd Place – Sophie Richardson and Sruthi Chatrathi

3^rd Place – Sanjeev Uppaluri and Shivani Naraharishetty

Robo-Cross – coached by Mr. Kaya

1^st Place – Yusuf Tas

4^th Place – Hasan Unal

Rocks and Minerals – coached by Mrs. Walsh

1^st Place – Brian Shoffeitt and Jean Moorman

3^rd Place – Sanjeev Uppaluri and Nadia Yanasak

Rotor Egg Drop – coached by Mr. Seker

1^st Place – Sule Anik and Elaine Wen

2^nd Place – Maryam Unal and Aditi Tekkam

4^th Place – Shreya Puvvula and Shivani Naraharishetty

Shock Value – coached by Mr. Wang

1^st Place – Simon Wang and Brian Shoffeitt

2^nd  Place – Julian Hamelberg and Yusuf Tas

Simple Machines – coached by Mr.& Mrs. Shoffeitt

1^st Place – Jean Moorman and Brian Shoffeitt

2nd Place – Julian Hamelberg and Jennifer Near

Solar System – coached by Mrs. Walsh

1^st Place – Aditya Choudhari and Araneesh Pratap

2^nd Place –Julian Hamelberg and Yusuf Tas

Sounds of Music – coached by Mr. Yanasak

1^st Place – Katherine Li and Ananya Terala

2nd Place – Mira Mutnick and Faith Lucas

Water Quality – coached by Mrs. Butler

1^st Place – Vikram Ruppa-Kasani and Elaine Wen

2^nd Place – Susanne Deeb and Jennifer Near

4^th Place – Matthew Stafford and Akash Bhatt

Wheeled Vehicle – coached by Mr. Seker

1st Place – Sarah Lucas and Soleil Moffitt

3^rd Place – Akash Bhatt and Andre Hamelberg

Write It, Do It – coached by Mrs. Stathos

1^st Place – Karuna Kumar and Mira Mutnick

4^th Place – Katherine Li and Sophie Richardson