On May 1, 2021, the Clague Science Olympiad team attended states.

“I was quite nervous at first but at the same time I was also really excited,” sixth grader Michelle Zhang said. “It was my first time going to states.”

Due to COVID-19, this year was very different from last year.  

“The social aspect changed this year,” seventh grader Tanay Panja said. “Last year, we had the experience of meeting our friends in-person to cheer on our team, and to make friends from different schools.”

Prior to states, five invitationals were held. Northview (Dec. 5, 2020), Cobra (Jan. 23, 2021), Harvard-Brown (Jan. 31, 2021), UMICH (Feb. 20, 2021), and Troy (March 13, 2021). 

The Clague Science Olympiad team won a total of 17 awards. The team won 3 1st-place awards, 1 2nd-place award, 2 3rd-place awards, 2 4th-place awards, 2 5th-place awards, 1 6th-place award, 1 7th-place award, 3 8th-place awards, 1 9th-place award, and 1 10th-place award. 

1st place – Crime Busters: Kashvi Rai and Aarna Desai

1st place – Game On: Tanay Panja and Aditya Kumar

1st place – Meteorology: Michelle Zhang and Paavani Tewari

2nd place – Machines: Michelle Zhang and Aditya Kumar

3rd place – Ornithology: Aditi Gopalakrishnan and Tanay Panja

3rd place – Fast Facts: Tanay Panja and Sounak Debnath

4th place – Road Scholar: Paavani Tewari and Sounak Debnath

4th place – Mouse Trap Vehicle: Aditi Gopalakrishnan

5th place – Density Lab: Tanay Panja and Kashvi Rai

5th place – Food Science: Katherine Ma and Lianne Liu

6th place – Disease Detectives: Anika Raman and Aditi Gopalakrishnan

7th place – Anatomy and Physiology: Tanay Panja and Aarna Desai

8th place – Circuit Lab: Kashvi Rai and Hemanth Tavane Shivakumar

8th place – Helicopter: Anika Raman and Aditya Muli

8th place – Mission Possible: Aditi Gopalakrishnan

9th place – Reach for the Stars: Sounak Debnath and Aditya Muli

10th place – Fossils: Katherine Ma and Lianne Liu

“Going to states felt really believable because everything was online,” eighth grader Lianne Liu said. “It seemed like we were doing a bunch of competitions over and over. But I’m glad that the team made it to states, and competing was pretty fun.”

For more information, go to the Clague Science Olympiad website.