Our Lady of the Valley School in Birmingham, Alabama, took first place at the 2022 Alabama State National Science Olympiad Tournament on March 26. The team will advance to the national competition which will be held in May. The Our Lady of the Valley team is led by Head Coach Ann Stevens, Coach Lorrie Steele, and Coach Gina Hagelskamp. The team has competed at the national level in the past, but this is the first time that Our Lady of the Valley School has won the state tournament. Science Olympiad is one of the nation’s most prestigious STEM competitions, comprised of events designed by experts from government agencies, top universities, and industries. The team of 26 traveled to Auburn for the competition. The team members were Alec Archer, Alex Nguyen, Nathaniel Rohling, Claire Ceasar, Porter Harrison, Allie Hedrick, Lorelai Kindle, Kate Nguyen, Ella Wright, Kieran Ford, Kyle Heberlein, Andrew Lee, Jonathan Rohling, Susi Valbuena, and Liam Gill.  Alternates for the event included Megan Ifediba, Wes Evanko, Minh Lam, Piero Castandeda, Emerick Sanchez, Gabi Thiga, Blake Anderson, Charlotte Chamberlain, Juliana Rohling, Anja Sundstrom, and Marion Bergeron.

Medal winners included: Lorelai Kindle and Susi Valbuena – 2nd in anatomy; Kieran Ford and Nathaniel Rohling - 2nd in bio process; Alex Nguyen and Alec Archer – 3rd in crave the wave, 1st in crime busters and 3rd in food science; Lorelai Kindle and Claire Ceasar – 3rd in disease detectives; Andrew Lee and Kieran Ford – 1st in electric wright stuff; Lorelai Kindle, Claire Ceasar, and Allie Hedrick – 2nd in experimental design; Kyle Heberlein and Kieran Ford - 3rd in meteorology; Andrew Lee and Liam Gill – 1st in mission possible; Andrew Lee and Kyle Heberlein – 2nd in mousetrap vehicle; Kate Nguyen and Claire Ceasar - 1st in ornithology and 2nd in ping pong parachute; Nathaniel Rohling and Jonathan Rohling – 1st in road scholar; Jonathan Rohling and Porter Harrison – 2nd in solar system; Allie Hedrick and Kate Nguyen – 1st in sounds of music; and Kyle Heberlein and Porter Harrison – 2nd in storm the castle.

The team also includes engineering coaches Bruce Fogel, Gary Roden, and Ham Nguyen along with mentors Brad Chamberlain and Sydney Nguyen. The team would like to thank the many parents, mentors, and all those who have contributed to this program throughout the years. If interested in contributing to the team to help defray competition expenses, please email s5thgradeolv@olvsch.com. For information on mentoring, please email astevens@olvsch.com.