The Mount Vernon Science Olympiad teams have seen improvement, both since the beginning of the team, and since the beginning of the 2025-26 season alone.

Senior members of the Mount Vernon High School Science Olympiad team, Ellah Shook, Claire Jensen, and Edith Dawson described the team to be a team club in which students work with a partner to compete in different academic events that they must “use critical thinking skills to solve,” according to Dawson.

Each student must have a specialty in categories like life sciences, engineering, chemistry, and more, with some events being ones that you study for, and others being ones that you don’t. According to Jensen, there is a “niche for everyone.”

Commonly, Mount Vernon Middle School Science Olympiad coach Rob Hanson will refer to Science Olympiad as “a track meet for science,” because each member has their special events that they participate in.

There are minimal differences between the middle and high school teams, primarily that the events are different, but even then, only nine of 23 differ from one another. Apart from the differing events, the teams’ timelines, rules, and functions are all relatively the same.

For both the middle school and high school teams, the season began Oct. 6, 2025. Throughout the season, the teams have participated in both in-person and online events, in which their skills are tested and improved for the upcoming state competition April 11, 2026.

The state competition welcomes all teams and participants; however, to qualify for nationals, which is held over Memorial Day weekend, the teams must win first place at the state competition. For teams that don’t make it past the state competition, state marks the end of their season; whereas, for teams that do advance beyond state, the national competition marks the end of their season.

Within Science Olympiad, there are commonly more individual goals than team goals; however, some team goals for the high school team include focusing for 30 minutes straight, medaling within the top three, and so on.

Although they have not necessarily met their team goals, the high school team is still proud of their accomplishments thus far, including placing within the top half of most of their competitions—which can host up to 300 people—as well as placing first at the Mount Vernon invitational hosted in collaboration with Cornell College.

On the other hand, the middle school team has their own team goals, such as to always be learning and improving so that they can see their hard work pay off. Although, individual members have their own goals as well.

Kaylee Kleinsky and Matthew Winkler, ninth graders on the Mount Vernon Middle School Science Olympiad team, would like to perform well at the state competition, and hopefully make it to nationals.

Kleinsky and Winkler, although being ninth graders, have chosen to continue working with the Middle School Science Olympiad team instead of the high school one. At the beginning of the season, they were given the choice but ultimately decided to stay with the middle school team, along with one other freshman, each for their own reasons, as the middle school team is allowed up to five ninth grade members.

Another goal of Winkler’s, as well as seventh grader Lilly Slaman’s, is to learn something new. The best goal, according to Winkler, is to “set a new goal after each competition to perform better and expand your knowledge each time.”

For eighth grader Kate Vavricek, the goal is simply to learn, to which Slaman shared the sentiment and said that she wants to “get better each time and learn something new.”

Challenges have been shared across both teams, with the primary ones being time management and collaboration with teammates or partners. For both Hanson and the high school coach, Alaina Appley, there is a minimum requirement of three events per student, so each student must be able to dedicate time and attention to each of their events.

With having multiple events, there can be a struggle to always agree with what each person is saying, and according to Slaman, “sometimes you and your partner disagree.” Thus, Science Olympiad helps members build more skills than just scientific ones, such as collaboration, teamwork, time management and so on.

Despite there being challenges, both high school and middle school members have found their time in Science Olympiad to be enjoyable.

For Kleinsky and Vavricek, “becoming good friends and teammates and making good memories,” has been the best part, to which Slaman added, “spending time with people outside of school and sports.” Winkler agreed with his colleagues, going on to add that “performing well and seeing growth” has been a rewarding part of the experience for him.

Overcoming their challenges, the high school students have found the good in their time on the Science Olympiad team, and seven of the eight seniors on the team have decided to pursue science fields in their post-secondary education, including majors in environmental science and biology. Together, Shook, Jensen, and Dawson shared the sentiment that being part of the Mount Vernon Science Olympiad team has been a valuable experience, with Shook stating that “it’s a really good environment,” while Jensen went on to say that it is a “good learning experience without the pressure of a grade,” and Dawson said that one can “see [their] own growth throughout the years.”

For the high school team, “numbers keep growing” according to Appley. There is an interest in science, and the demand for such a team doesn’t seem to be diminishing anytime soon.

Hanson shared the same outlook, sharing that he is “always thrilled when kids come back and compete. It makes [him] happy when kids are willing to challenge themselves.”