The Science Olympiad team implemented new strategies this year, which paid off in a 10th place finish at the state tournament on April 11.

Co-Captain SriVidya Uppalapati is pleased with how the team has improved from last year, both in terms of preparation and placement at competitions.

“Last year was a bit of an organizational fiasco,” Uppalapati said. “Our hope was to make things more organized so the team can really fulfill our potential. We have really bright minds here.”

Earlier in the season, the team placed 14th at the Mentor Invitational on Feb. 14 and 7th at the regional tournament held at Case Western on Feb. 21.

“We felt really excited that we got into states,” junior Lynn Jiao said, “because we really didn’t think we would get in, especially because it was so stressful and a bunch of our events didn’t go very well.”

The team has been working far ahead of schedule this year and planning carefully to ensure they have enough time to test their projects. Co-Captains Jessica Tall and John Li believe it’s due to their commitment to practice that they have been able to improve their performance.

“It’s one thing for the three of us captains and [adviser Alise Stawicki] to organize everything,” Uppalapati said. “It’s another thing for [the other team members] to be willing to use it. I could say my house is open and no one could show up, but on Christmas Eve, I had 15 kids at my house. That shows me they care.”

Rebecca Kuang, who graduated last year, visited the team during practices and commented on how dedicated the current members are.

However, team members report one obstacle that inhibits further success, which is a lack of resources that teams such as Solon and Mentor have access to. Due to their short history, Beachwood’s team hasn’t been able to take advantage of parent resources and past practice material.

“Other schools have files of previous tests and answer keys to use for practice,” Stawicki said. “We don’t have as large of a database.”

“One of our biggest problems is that we’re not able to compete at the level we should be competing because we don’t have this database to build off of,” Uppalapati said.

The budget is another concern for Uppalapati, who said the original budget is no longer sufficient due to rising prices of competition registration as well as the cost of supplies.

“If the team has specific needs for more money (whether for competition fees or supplies),” Klein wrote in an email, “they (through their adviser) should meet with me to determine means by which to meet those needs, including fundraising.”

The team is currently putting together a list that will include the supplies they currently have, as well as those that will help them compete with bigger schools.

Other team members are concerned about access to tools such as table saws and drill presses.

“For the building events, we don’t have access to tools and things that the school has,” freshman Daniel Mishins said.

Stawicki explained that they were not completely denied access to those tools. However, they can only use them during certain times with supervision.

The team has focused not just on placing well this year, but they’d also like to build the foundation for an even better performance next year.

The captains are positive about the team’s future.

“We lost specialized people because they’ve been specializing for four years, and so now it’s up to us to make sure that not only do we continue our work in our events, but we pass it on,” Uppalapati said.

“We have a lot of really good freshmen who are really into this, and so we have a strong base,” Uppalapati said. “We don’t have to stress about how the team is going to carry on once we’re all gone.

With the start of an alumni association and communication with experts at Case Western Reserve University, they’re working to expand their network.

Team members also hope for more people to see what they do, and to hopefully join in. While they target freshmen, this year saw the addition of three juniors to the team.

“You don’t have to be good at science, you learn here,” Uppalapati said. “You don’t have to come in being a genius.”