Steelville Middle School’s Science Olympiad team placed first at regionals on Feb. 21 at Missouri S&T in Rolla and brought home 42 medals out of a possible 48, marking a new district record. 

High schoolers placed fourth and brought home 18 medals, meaning both teams will advance to the state competition on April 18 at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.

Local competitors included 24 students from the middle school and 14 students from the high school against students from schools in 13 other counties, many of which are much larger than Steelville. Despite the challenge, the middle schoolers still took first by over eight points.

“We compete against Rolla and Rock Bridge out of Columbia and Jeff City. Like, we compete against schools that are five times our size,” Science Olympiad Coach Caleb Earney said. “Winning by eight points is really big.”

Students competed in 23 different categories that were classified as either build or test events. In build events, students work in teams to design and construct devices that are tested during the competition.

Test events allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of topics like chemistry, astronomy, biology, physics, earth science, anatomy, engineering and more.

Earney gives his students two to five events to master throughout the school year. The students work on their events in class each day to prepare for the competition.

“Since we don’t have school on Mondays, I come in on Mondays for them to kind of practice their events, and then it’s easier for me to sit down with them individually during that time to kind of discuss how they’re doing with it,” Earney said.

In addition to the 60 total medals brought back by students, Earney also took home an honor himself: the Coach’s Award, which he won for the third year in a row. He’s worked with many of the Science Olympiad students for multiple years now, and said he’s enjoyed getting to watch them grow their skills over the years.

Steelville is now among the top 32 Science Olympiad teams in Missouri and will take on the state competition next month. In past years, Earney said his goal has been for Steelville to place in the top half – a goal they’ve historically accomplished. But this year, he’s setting the bar higher and aiming for the top 10.

“I’m super proud of them,” he said. “We’ve got a good group here.”