Thursday, March 11, 2004 | 8:22 a.m.
At the sleepy hour of 6 a.m. Senny Wong and science instructor Eric Rapp drive to the gymnasium at Las Vegas High School.
With the air conditioner off and the atmosphere still, Wong removes her feather-light planes from their plastic storage box.
She's customized the propeller, mastered the weight, twisted the rubber bands, studied the flights and learned that the wind will shred the craft if taken outdoors.
Test flights continue. Attempts are precarious. Wong is nervous. An enduring flight at the state Science Olympiad could help her school win a state trophy and send the teams to nationals in Huntingdon, Pa.
As one of 10 team members from Las Vegas High school competing in the state Olympiad, Wong feels the pressure.
More than 200 students are expected at Saturday's Olympiad at the Community College of Southern Nevada, West Charleston Campus.
Two students quit the Las Vegas High School team because they could no longer commit to the schedule. Teams have had to reshuffle and make last-minute preparations. And the science department at Las Vegas High School is hoping for a third statewide win.
"We would like to have teams of Senny," said Andree Reed, science teacher and Olympiad coach. "When they're dedicated they know some of these topics better than we do."
Nationwide, Science Olympiad is big. Roughly 400,000 students compete in state tournaments. This year's winning teams will head to nationals this May at Juniata College in Hungtindon, where prodigious projects are unveiled and students are highly competitive.
"It's overwhelming," student Cody Noden said, recalling his first year at nationals. "You go from your small pond to an ocean and there's big fish in the ocean."
Adam Walters, who has built a wooden bass guitar to perform in a Sounds of Music competition at Science Olympiad, agrees.
"There was a person who produced basically a full-range piano with eight octaves," Walters said.
Brain power
Science Olympiad, celebrating its 20th year, promotes teamwork. Projects are predetermined. Anyone, regardless of science interest and background, can compete in the disciplines, which range from astronomy to engineering.
At nationals, students compete in 23 categories and follow strict guidelines. Some projects are determined by the judges at the event. Some are built ahead of time.
A Mission Impossible event requires students to create a Rube Goldberg-style invention that uses a series of energy transfers to accomplish a task. Disease Detective requires students to "apply principles of epidemiology to a published report of a real-life health situation or problem."
Some communities strongly support Olympiads. Last year at nationals, Reed said, one team had 23 coaches for a 15-student team -- one coach per event.
In Delaware, 95 percent of the public schools participate. In Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control became involved by sponsoring Disease Detectives and Science of Fitness.
CDC gives a scholarship and an internship to the gold medalist from nationals.
"The Georgia Olympiad is a really strong state," said national Science Olympiad spokeswoman Jennifer Kopach, whose father, Gerard Putz, co-founded Science Olympiad. "Strong states have a massive impact. They get communities behind them. Scientists, parents and university professors."
But support and financing doesn't always lead to top placements.
When Reed's teams arrived at nationals two years ago carrying a pan flute made from a garden hose, and a coffee can single-string instrument for Sounds of Music (compared to elaborately crafted projects), they were certain they were in trouble.
But they placed 13th out of 56 and learned that creativity and ingenuity were really what the judges were looking for. The teams were inspired. They'd return the next year.
"What I've found, once you get them started, whether it's Science Fair, Science Olympiad, they keep doing it," said Richard Vineyard, state science consultant for grades K-12. Vineyard started the Nevada program in 1999 after moving to Nevada from Utah, where he had run the program since 1991.
"This is a way to get kids interested in science and working as a team. It provides access to science for kids who might not ordinarily do it."
Science matters
At O'Callaghan Middle School, eighth graders who are part of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program (MESA) for educationally disadvantaged children are the first to represent the school in the Olympiad.
"These are kids that may never have joined an afternoon science club," science teacher and Olympiad coach Jennine Maner said.
The students are testing and retesting materials that could safely transport an egg when dropped from varying heights. They're incorporating marshmallows, Popsicle sticks and wire hangers to their projects. They don't know what materials they'll be given at the competition.
"We've gone through two months of participation where kids go home and engineer a variety of things," Maner said. "We try our egg drop vehicles every Friday and they're holding their breath.
"It's trial and error. It's putting it to application. That's what science doesn't give enough today is application."
The students' enthusiasm toward the Olympiad is what the MESA program is all about, Maner said.
"We're trying five different egg drops right now. And they're still staying with it," she explained. "What else can we give them? It's a life lesson.
"Nationally we have a shortage of math and science professionals. Middle school is where they lose (interest) ... If they're not taking courses like science and algebra, then by the time they get to high school, they're falling behind."
Competition
At Hyde Park Middle School, a science and math academy, students entered in every category have their eyes on the gold.
This is the school's fourth year competing at state, losing each year to Eagle Valley Middle School in Carson City.
"We're hoping to break that second-place run this year," said Tracy Viscosi, department chair of Hyde Park science program and one of four science and math coaches for this year's Olympiad.
"If we win first place, we would be the first Clark County team to win first in state."
Like any other extracurricular program, Viscosi said, "It's a team sport. The coaches work just as hard as the kids. We have a lot of students who wanted to be on the team."
In fact, 40 students were interested, but the teams are limited to 15. Hyde Park has 15 team members with two alternates.
Students have been working on their projects every day after school for the past four weeks.
"At Hyde Park it is a large competition," Viscosi said. "There's a lot of recognition when the kids get back and there's a celebration. There will definitely be some broken hearts if we don't get a gold medal."
But when all is built, tested and destroyed and students return home, the teachers agree, it's not the win, but the experience and the enthusiasm for science.
"When the kids get excited about it, it pays off," said Reed, who, in addition to Science Olympiad, has had three students go to international science fairs during her career.
Rich Radke, an assistant professor in the Department of electrical, computer and systems engineering at Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., was a seventh grader in Milwaukee, Wis., when he first participated in Science Olympiad.
"It was a great experience," Radke said. "One of the best things is being involved in something that allowed you to go on a national trip. It was really the first time that most of us would have the opportunity to go off and visit a campus.
"There are lots of sports teams. This was a way to give the non-athletically inclined people an opportunity."
Dedication
So far, nobody from the Las Vegas High School teams regret the time they've committed to their projects. It isn't unusual for students to work on the projects after school and spend entire weekends testing them.
In his third year heading to the state Olympiad, senior Chris Gifford has built a 50-centimeter-high tower of balsa wood that weighs 70 grams and will need to hold 15 kilograms of sand for five seconds in a bucket.
The lightest tower to hold the sand for the longest time wins. Last year Gifford, a math whiz, took first in state with a boomilever (similar to a tower but attached to a wall).
"I hope it holds up," the school wrestling champion and former quarterback said. "It took me five weeks to build it, half-hour to an hour a day.
"I haven't tested it. Last year I built seven for nationals. It kept breaking. This year I want to build one that's going to hold."
Looking at the tower, which resembles the Eiffel Tower, Gifford added, "I wanna be the best of everything I do. I don't want to go in unprepared."
Sixteen-year-old Jessica "Neyssa" Denny, a junior with senior credits, is memorizing pine trees, learning their scientific names, fruit and type of leaf.
Denny, who plans to become a Marine after high school, lugs around hard-bound copies of North American trees.
"I've always been interested in plants and animals," said Denny, who is also on the swim team, the cross country team and boys JV wrestling. "I thought Science Olympiad would be a good place to show myself.
"Every Sunday I sit in front of all the books and just read," Denny said. "I'm pretty nervous because I have a swim tournament that day."
Scott Bronder built a trebuchet with student Marty Lobrado. He joined the team only three weeks ago. This is his first year participating.
"I'm nervous," Bronder said. "They're two-time state champions and I don't want to ruin it for them."
Coach Reed isn't overconfident. In past years the low number of participating schools has worked to Las Vegas High School's advantage. The first year there were merely a couple of schools in the northern part of the state. Last year there were six high schools and four middle schools.
"When we came out on top the last couple of years I was very pleased," Reed said. "This is my alma mater. But we've got to keep on a high level to keep up when other schools get on track."
"I think we're the most unprepared we've ever been. We'll see. You never know what happens on Saturday morning."
And Wong? She's nervous, but says either way she'll be back again next year.
"I've come so far I should probably keep going," she said with a smile.
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