Rocky Heights Middle School places in top 10 in State tournament!
Castle Pines resident Travis Grafitti and his partner Devin Lindsey (not pictured) won a Silver medal.
By Amy Shanahan, photo courtesy of Brian Hall
Rocky Heights Middle School (RHMS) had two teams participate in the state Science Olympiad tournament on April 21, and one of the teams placed 10th in the state!
Science Olympiad is a national science competition, which allows teams to compete in standards-based challenges in the various scientific fields including earth science, genetics, chemistry, geology and mechanical engineering.
Science Olympiad emphasizes teamwork and active group participation in each challenge.
RHMS has a collective team of approximately 45 students in sixth through eighth grades. The team is then broken up into three competing teams of 15 students. The Silver and Purple teams both had amazing finishes at the regional tournament, which qualified them to compete at the state level.
The State tournament saw 34 teams from all over Colorado compete in 23 various events at the Colorado School of Mines. The RHMS Purple team placed 26th and the Silver team placed 10th in the state. This is an RHMS record high and the highest finish for any participating school in the Denver metro area!
Seventh grade student Travis Grafitti and his partner Devin Lindsey won a second place Silver medal in the Tower Building competition, building a tower that was 70 cm tall, held 15 kg, and only weighed 11g. Their win helped propel the Silver team to the tenth place finish. “I was pretty happy!” stated Grafitti. “I was really glad for my team. It was harder this year than last year!”
Eighth grade student Jiwoo Park competed alongside her sister in the Food Science challenge and won a third place Bronze medal. “Mr. Hall and Mr. Randolph were really good coaches. They are always willing to help us with anything!” Park remarked.
The RHMS Science Olympiad team is possible due to the time, effort and support of head coaches Brian Hall and Cameron Randolph, and assistant coaches Andrew McGavin and Cullen Hilsendager.
“I am so proud of every member of the RHMS Science Olympiad team,” remarked Hall. “We had great success this year and it can be attributed to the efforts put forth by these amazing kids and the leadership within the students who set forth an example of how to put your nose to the grindstone today so that you can reap the benefits tomorrow.”
