Our Olympian Takes the Gold!

Our science olympian, that is.

Jefferson competed in the Regional Science Olympiad yesterday and won gold in two events. The first is called "the eggonaut." Each contestant had to build a rocket that would launch off of an air compressor, have a parachute that opened upon descent, and land the rocket without cracking the egg that was riding inside. Jefferson built his rocket with a few personal modifications; whatever they were, they worked because his rocket flew the highest, had the overall best descent, and his egg "passenger" escaped unscathed!

Jefferson and a fellow student were entered into another event literally at the last minute (right before it began). They'd had no training or preparation in this area, but their teacher felt they could do pretty well; this hunch proved true as Jefferson and his teammate took first place! This competition was called "Write It, Build It". The team members were split up, put into separate rooms, and the first student was given about 40 items to make something from. That student built an original contraption from the items, then wrote down specific instructions on how to build it. These instructions were given to the second student on the team, along with the 40 items to see if they could accurately replicate what their teammate had built. Of the pair, Jefferson was the "builder" and replicated the contraption almost perfectly from the written instructions.

The entire Sunrise Ridge team qualified for the state competition, which will be held later next month. We can't wait to see how our science "superstar" does at the next level :)