RENO - Pershing County High School students will participate in the Nevada State Science Olympiad this weekend in Reno.
The University of Nevada, Reno will host the event for the first time this Saturday in the Davidson Mathematics and Science Center and Scrugham Engineering and Mines buildings on campus.
Local students participating in the Olympiad are Erika Terry, Allen Brinkerhoff, Gabby Switzer, Marcus Tippens, Lyndsey Dennler, Allyse Lusby, Sarita Condie, Leah Holland, Claudia Dennler, Samantha Dennler, Alayna Meredith, Kanisha Tippens, Randolph McLean, Seth Montes, Christopher Franco, Michael Kincheloe, Sergio Gonzalez, Alonzo Domingues, Layne Chambers, Travis Gentry and Ethan Hostman.
They will be presenting a variety of projects and experiments from Anatomy and Astronomy to Rocks and Minerals and Water Quality.
"We have a full team participating with alternates going too," PCHS Science teacher Val McLean said.
There may even be more students attending as they finish their preparations on their current events, McLean added.
The Nevada Olympiad, one of more than 240 regional and state tournaments in the country, will include middle and high school STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) participants from around the state competing for the chance to go to the 28th Annual National Science Olympiad, held this year at the University of Central Florida.
Volunteer faculty members from the university, as well as community educators, will serve as judges for the all-day event. Categories for the Olympiad are Science Concepts and Knowledge, Science Processes and Thinking Skills and Science Application and Technology. Each year's event themes are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering, civil engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, the Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation.
Stan Omaye, professor in the university's College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources and volunteer facilitator for the state event, is looking forward to seeing the work of the middle and high school student teams when they come to campus.
"This event has excellent potential for recruiting talented students in STEM areas and promoting University of Nevada STEM programs," said Omaye. "And also a great time to recognize outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers."
The Science Olympiad is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to science education around the world. This rotating system gives kids a chance to visit new parts of the country, to tour colleges they might consider for their undergraduate studies and provides a memorable experience to last a lifetime.
Lovelock Review-Miner Staff Writer Alicia Craig contributed to this report.
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