ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County schools fared well in recent regional Science Olympiad competitions.

Clarkton School of Discovery’s jayvee and varsity Science Olympiad teams competed in the regional Science Olympiad competition at UNC-W on March 4 and brought home 11 event medals.

The varsity team placed in the top 10 in nine events, and the jayvee team placed in the top 10 in 19 out of 23 events among teams from 25 area schools.

The Tar Heel Middle School jayvee and varsity Science Olympiad teams competed in the Fayetteville regional tournament on Feb. 25 and once again the jayvee team brought home a second-place trophy overall. In all, the Tar Heel teams brought home a total of 10 event medals.

The varsity team placed in the top 10 in 13 events, and finished eighth in its division among 14 other area schools. The jayvee team placed in the top 10 in all 23 events among teams from six other area schools.

“This is my second year coaching the CSD Science Olympiad team and I’m so proud of how well our students competed” said Jordan Raynor, sixth-grade math and science teacher and head coach of CSD’s Science Olympiad team. “I definitely couldn’t do all of this alone, we have our principal, Stephanie Norris, a Science Olympiad veteran, who’s been a great leader and mentor for myself and the students. We also have lots of parental and community support of which we are extremely grateful.”

“The entire staff of Tar Heel is so very proud of these students” said David Wimert, coach of the Tar Heel Science Olympiad team. “We proudly display the students trophies in the office for all to see.”

Varsity individual award-winners from Clarkton School of Discovery are as follows: Third place Bottle Rocket- Garrett Melvin and Nick Norris; third place Towers- Andrew Cahn and Nick Norris; third place Wright Stuff- Garrett Melvin and Nick Norris; sixth place Road Scholar- Andrew Cahn and Jackson Bostic; seventh place Scrambler Car- Jackson Bostic and Jacob Priest.

Varsity team winners from Tar Heel Middle School are as follows: Third place Reach for the Stars – Atzel Salvador and Daniel Sanchez; fourth place Scrambler Car – Olivia Allen and Haleigh Fields; fifth place Towers – Alejandro Cruz Rodriquez and Edwin Flores; fifth place Write It Do It – Kaylee Page and Serenity Flakes.

Junior Varsity team winners from Clarkton School of Discovery are as follows: First place Mission Possible- Sophia Masaid and Skylar Suggs; second place Disease Detectives- Hannah Davis and Natalie Spears; second place Dynamic Planet- Connor Britt and Luke Barber; second place Towers- Luke Barber and Sam Inscoe; fourth place Microbe Mission- Denitsa Dimova and Weslyn Hall; fourth place Wright Stuff- Emma Turbeville and Skylar Suggs.

Junior Varsity team winners from Tar Heel Middle School are as follows: Second place Disease Detectives – Cameron Page and Oswaldo Lopez; first place Ecology with the highest score of all junior varsity and varsity teams combined – Levi German and Serena Nwikina; second place Food Science – Violet Allen and Kieria Lewis; first place Hovercraft – Alan Miranda and Alex Basilio; second place Reach for the Stars – Alan Miranda and Alex Basilio; second place Towers – Jose Cuc Reyes and Charlie Cruz Rodriquez.

“We have something special here in Bladen County,” Raynor added. “With so much emphasis now being placed on providing STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) opportunities for today’s students to help them become competitive in this global world, we at Clarkton School of Discovery are way ahead of the curve. Not only are students understanding the content taught, they are taking that knowledge and applying it to practical situations. This is an outstanding group of students who demonstrated what they are capable of. We hope the best is yet to come.”

Valerie Newton is the public relations and information officer for Bladen County Schools.

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Valerie Newton

Bladen County Schools