For the Hamilton High School Science Olympiad program, success is nothing new. The program has been a state qualifier for several seasons in a row, and this year is no exception. Mr. Jake Klinger and the Hawkeyes picked up the program's fourth consecutive regional championship on March 16 at Western Michigan University while medaling in 19 of 23 events and finishing first in Disease Detectives and Tower categories.
While the high school achievements are extremely impressive yet again, perhaps Hamilton Middle School is stealing some of the spotlight. After not having a program since the 2014-15 school year, teacher Ryan Morris brought it back in a big way, but it wasn't without a lot of effort from both Morris and all of his students.
"These Science Olympiads have been working since December to learn, test, and build for their events," Morris explained. "The relief they felt when they all won an award for their event was unbelievable."
The Hawkeyes would finish 3rd out of 19 teams at regionals on March 16 which qualified them for the state competition on May 4! In fact, the event coordinator told the team, "Thanks for bringing Hamilton Middle School back - it has been a while."
Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade competed in over 20 difference science-related events and while finishing 3rd place overall, they were 1st for the your school size division.
"This is such an amazing group of students," Morris said. "I am so proud of them and the hard work they have done to get to this stage - the state competition is a whole separate beast but they are excited and ready to go."
