Disease Detectives, Crime Busters, and Green Generation are not the names of TV shows; they are the titles of the science events students from teacher Dawn Monson’s Science Olympiad team presented at a recent state competition at the University of Utah. 

South Hills Middle school competed against 25 other schools and took home the prestige award of second in the state. 

“The state competition was amazing,” Monson said. “We ended up taking home many bronze, silver and gold medals. The kids have to work really hard; a lot of this is college level information and is very rigorous. It’s not just the brainiac kids who do this, it’s also the ones who are willing to put in the time and work hard.”

There were 36 students at South Hills Middle school who participated in the Science Olympiad program this year. That allowed Monson and her fellow coaches to take two teams of students to the regional competition, where they then narrowed down their one team of 15 to compete at the state level. The team that has the most correct answers is awarded the most points in reverse, like the game of golf, the lower the score the higher the placement. Students who worked on the Anatomy event for example, had to demonstrate an understanding of the basic anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular, integumentary (skin layers in and out) and immune system.  Monson and her team of coaches take on this activity to help meet a need for those students who seek it. 

“To many, Science Olympiad sounds like a bunch of nerds getting together to do science,” said Tiffany, a South Hills Middle School 7th grader. “That is part right. We do work on science. But it’s about learning to work with other people. Making friendships that will last. Also we learn cool things that can help in everyday life and also just fun facts to act cool. Science Olympiad rules.”