J.C.

Booth's Science Olympiad team is going for its

fifth national championship this week during

competition in Cheney, Wash.

Accompanied

west Monday for some educational sight-seeing and

warm-up exercises before the 23-event tournament

begins Thursday.

Rising

Starr Middle School and McIntosh High School also

sent teams to the prestigious competition where

more than 2,000 students will demonstrate their

academic, scientific and mechanical skills in

events such as battery buggy, chemistry lab, road

scholar and metric mastery at Eastern Washington

University.

All

three schools took top honors at the state level

in March and competed in last year's round in

Chicago.

For

Booth, participation in the National Science

Olympiad has become a ritual part of spring.

Wilde and her students have competed for 11

years, winning first place for four consecutive

years.

Wilde

says the key to her team's success is teamwork

and consistency. "Teacher turnover is very

high," she said, observing the dropout rate

among other coaches. Wilde says she continues to

train the team year after year because of the

support she receives from parents and the fact

that training for the olympiad is genuinely fun.

She

attends a summer camp each year to refocus her

energies for the next year's competition and

renew her enthusiasm for the time-consuming task

of working with about 10 new team members.

"There are always new kids," she said.

One of the first things Wilde does is work with

the students to develop a successful social

framework. This is accomplished through

activities outside of routine practices, like

picnics and school sleep-overs.

The

Booth students usually compete in all 23 events,

giving them an edge over other teams that may

select only a few events. A cumulative score

determines the top team, Wilde explained.

She

noted that the competition level is "much

more difficult, even within the state

competitions. The quality [of competition] is

much higher," Wilde said.

Chris

Taylor, a ninth grader at McIntosh, is competing

for the fourth time this year for Booth. He

agreed with Wilde.

"The

teams are getting better," he admitted,

while reviewing astronomy data on the classroom

computer. Two teams in particular, Thomas

Jefferson Middle School from Valparaiso, Ind. and

El Rancho Middle School from Anaheim, Calif.,

have an ongoing friendly rivalry with Booth,

according to Taylor. "They usually stay at

the same hotel as we do. They are extremely nice

and last year ended up cheering for us."

Prior

to the competition, Taylor said participating

students get to socialize and gather for a swap

meet of sorts where state-related souvenirs are

exchanged. He likes to take Braves Tomahawks made

of foam. "License plates are popular and so

are inflatable cows from Wisconsin," he

added.

Wilde

spent Friday afternoon making some last minute

adjustments with Linda Ketsche and Priscilla

Roberts for their chemistry event, while Derrick

Faunce reviewed data for their competitions.

These

four students, along with their teammates, have

spent an average of one and a half hours a week

preparing for the Olympiad, not to mention

weekends.

The

results of this year's event will be posted

Saturday upon announcement of the judges. For

news of Booth's challenge to retain the national

championship, plus Rising Starr and McIntosh

results, check The Daily Citizen Online at https://thecitizennews.com .

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