2010 Olympiad a fun-filled science competition

"It was definitely worth the trip."

That was the consensus of members of the Science Club from Oakville's Holy Trinity Secondary School, who made the long bus ride down the 401 for the Great Lakes Science Olympiad, held on campus last Thursday.

Club president Victoria Kuta learned about the event—which pits teams of high schoolers in competition against each other and the clock to test their knowledge of chemistry, biology, computer science, physics, and engineering—while researching possible activities for her membership.

Once they got the okay from teacher advisor Robert Didiodato, they were on their way.

"That's 10 hours on the Greyhound total, plus an overnight stay," he said after the competition, as the team prepared for the trip home. "The students had tons of fun. It was a great experience."

Kuta agreed, and said she hoped the club would make it an annual tradition: "It was so much fun. My favourite part was the Amazing Race event."

The Great Lakes Science Olympiad features a series of competitions designed and run by teacher candidates in the UWindsor Bachelor of Education program, based on the science curriculum to challenge the high schoolers' skills and teamwork.

This year 30 teams participated, representing 17 schools. Assumption College High School won top honours for the second straight year with the team of Ryan Chan, Mariam Hamadani, Yeochong Ng, Serxho Selmoni, Alexander Tingle, and Jean Xu.