Twenty-seven teams with more than 400 high school students from the Central East Region of Pennsylvania converged on Kutztown University March 20 for the annual Science Olympiad event.

The region covers Berks, Bucks, Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Twenty-eight high schools (Division C) and 10 middle schools (Division B) entered teams to compete in 23 different events.

The top six Division C teams are eligible for states. The national tournament is held May 16-17 in Orlando, Fla.

Science Olympiad is a national competition during which students show their talents in areas of science including biology, chemistry, physics, Earth and space sciences and engineering.

Some events are knowledge based but many include projects, research or laboratory activity.

This year, the Northwestern team attended four invitational tournaments from Philadelphia to Ohio in preparation for the competition. Practice and dedication this year paid off as the team not only took the top position by scoring more than 30 percent higher than the second place team but also brought home 15 medals, four gold, six silver, three bronze and two forth places.

"It was worth all the time and effort," said senior Nick Smith, as he watched his elastic launched glider float over 20 seconds.

His hours of work took medals in glider, astronomy and water quality, three of his four events.

Jonathan Turner and Aaron Williams ran from the Circuit Lab event to the MagLev event in time to win a silver medal with a car weighing almost 5 pounds levitating entirely by magnetism.

Their energy conversion device had already won a gold medal in the Mission Possible competition.

Science Club President Amy Lebrecht and her partner, Devon Devers, held their breath and trusted their research as a weight was dropped 12 feet connected to a bungee cord hoping to get close but not hit a target on the ground.

The bungee jumping weight stopped less than 2 inches from the ground, which earned them a silver medal.

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Gold Medal

winners

·Chem Lab: Sam Haas and Greg VanOmmermen

·Experimental Design: Devon Devers, Amy Lebrecht and Ben Fruchtl

·Mission Possible: Jonathan Turner and Aaron Williams

·Water Quality: Greg VanOmmermen and Nick Smith

·Chem Clue: Jonathan Turner and Jake Steidinger *Trial event

Silver Medals

Winners

·Boomilever: Brandon Herb and Jake Steidinger

·Bungee Drop: Devon Devers and Amy Lebrecht

·Glider: Nick Smith and Jake Steidinger

·Forensics: Greg VanOmmermen and Sam Haas

·MagLev: Aaron Williams and Jonathan Turner

·Write it/Do it: Brandon Herb and Amy Lebrecht

·Geoquest: Brooke Novotnak and Christine McDonald *Trial event

Also competing and bringing in the additional five medals were: Leigham Breckenridge, Daneen Haas, Grace Schoeniger, Brett Scott, Joe Manning, and Adam Lebrecht.

Division C

1) Northwestern High School

2) Perkiomen Valley High School

3) Fleetwood Area High School

4) Allentown Central Catholic High School

5) Kutztown Senior High School

6) Whitehall Coplay High School

7) Parkland High

As the winning teams were announced, starting with the seventh position, they had no idea what their final placing would be.

Finally, Northwestern Lehigh was announced as the No. 1 team and the emotions let loose.

The team cheered and exchanged hugs as coaches David Moyer and Glenn Frey finally exhaled.

Lebrecht went forward to pick up the trophy and official invitation to the state event May 2 at Juniata College.

These students follow their love and find the hard work, as Smith said, "challenging, interesting and fun."

Turner was asked about peer and public recognition.

"It's not necessary," Turner said. "That's not the point."

They do this work knowing there will be little acknowledgement from the general public and media.

The team knows each year they will have to raise hundreds of dollars for materials needed for their events. For the next few weeks, however, those things don't matter.

"A lot of work, a lot of rewards," VanOmmermen said is the challenge of new and higher levels of competition.