On February 4th, 2023, the Science Olympiad team placed in the top 10 of 24 events at their regional competition, bringing home 51 medals. Forest Hills was the only zoned school at the competition advancing to the State Championships, accompanied by a list of illustrious, well-funded specialized and private schools. But this wasn’t a stroke of good luck – their success amounts to a concomitance of hard work, dedication, and a desire to prove themselves.
To provide some background information, Science Olympiad is a team competition in which students compete in 23 events- these events pertain to their skills in physics, biology, chemistry, and even Earth science. There are multiple types of events – some are more hands on with students building things, whereas others are strictly tests. The tests given can encompass any part of the given topic, so it’s necessary to study everything on the topic – an impressive feat for anyone, especially high school students.
There’s 23 events in Science Olympiad competitions, and many schools have a coach specializing in each event. That’s 23 coaches, and Forest Hills has one. Additionally, students need considerable time to prepare for their events in a scholastic environment – but at Forest Hills, they must leave the school at 5pm, resulting in the majority of studying/preparation done on their own time. Lastly, the team needs money – which was not made available. They raised money for materials by selling popcorn!
Students on the team teach themselves college-level material, and many study for hours each day on top of academic, athletic, and personal commitments. When speaking with the coach Ms. Pirulli, she told me that many team members have friends, siblings, etc. who attend specialized high schools, and that they have consistently been compared to them. Due to this, they have a drive and need to prove themselves that completely eclipses circumstances at Forest Hills: such as less coaches, money, and time than their competitors. The message I took from her was that while other schools have money, Forest Hills has heart.
Despite everything, the State competition was incredibly successful for Forest Hills, who made the top 30 best schools in New York out of 495 schools participating. The best-scoring events were Write it Do it, Anatomy, and Codebusters, led by Theo and Leeam, Zara and Leeam, and Sebastian, Frida, and Jacob, respectively. Students learned their strengths and weaknesses, and how to improve the team’s performance for next year. Morale was high, and for good reason.
