Science students at three Fayette County schools

are fine-tuning their trajectory calibrations in preparation

for next month's National Science Olympiad to be held in

Chicago. Teams from Rising Starr Middle School, J.C.

Booth Middle School and McIntosh High School will

compete against the best science students in the country in a

series of 27 events. Fayette County students make up three of

the four teams representing Georgia. The fourth school is

from Chamblee.

"We are celebrating our tenth year in the National

Science Olympiad," said Mary Wilde, J.C. Booth's science

teacher and olympiad coach. Booth students have brought home

the national title for three consecutive years. They will be

joined by students from Starr's Mill, who ranked second at the

state level and are making their first trip to the nationals.

McIntosh will be competing in the high school "C" division after

taking second place on the state level.

"We work very, very hard," Wilde said of her team's

efforts to place first year after year. "Hours are put into it and

we have wonderful parental support," she added. This

year, Wilde is taking 36 students to the academic competition.

Julie Gray, science teacher at Rising Starr, is prepping

her 17-member team for the event. They practice everything

from checking the power in their battery-operated buggy,

to targeting their balls at various heights from their

hand-built trajectory, she explained.

Work begins at the beginning of the school year, and

students compete through the ranks various of regional

competitions to reach the national level scheduled for May 13, 14

and 15. "We're taking the bus with Booth and McIntosh

students are flying," Gray said. Fund-raising is an integral part

of participating in the competition, and Gray estimates the cost

of the trip for her team will run about $10,000. All students

are raising money for their fare and hotel. Booth has received

a $1,000 donation from The Goody Company to defray expenses.

The Science Olympiad Team from Starr's Mill

includes Laura Maughan, Jonathan Ferro, Matt Ferro,

Caitlin Clarke, Justin Lai, Trevor Lorber, Brian O'Keefe,

Danny O'Shaugnessy, Nate Overall, Rachel Barker, Kiran

Valiano, Kipp Ramsey, Kahn Howard, Daniel Bailey, Michael

Koziol, Alaina Jones and Scott Molleson. Members

on Booth's Team A include Megan Bernard, Christine

Ellenburg, Tony Hung, Randy Hutchinson, Kate Schmid, Michael

Condon, Tori Fratto, Robert Huefner, Linda Ketsche, Ryan

Nigro, John Powers, Reah Rogers, Chris Taylor, Ben Lorber,

Brett Morris and alternates Chris Baudhuin and Sunya

Sweeney. Team B includes Joe Piasta, Amanda Casey, Caleb

Austin, Michelle Ellenburg, Meghan Lasseter, Heather

Meaders, Nate Reddy, Priscilla Roberts, Michael Smith, Katie

Taylor, Jordan Worrall, Tom Wyatt, Whitney Baker, Kim

Bevillard, Mohua Basu, alternates are James Wade and

Arthur Gwynne.

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