PHOTOS: Science Olympiad Students Show Off Hardware from 2012 Tournies

The Chippewa Valley school board meeting opened to a packed house this week, as students, parents and teachers from across the district came out in force to celebrate the participants in year's Science Olympiad.

Some 350 elementary, middle and high school students from the district competed in Science Olympiad this year, with all 18 Chippewa Valley schools organizing teams.

A rigorous academic competition, Science Olympiad consists of a series of individual and team events which students prepare for throughout the year. Parents and teachers serve as coaches and students have the opportunity to win medals and trophies for their efforts, as well as to advance to regional, state and national levels of competition.

"One of the common themes out of the Department of Education these days is STEM education–science, technology, engineering and mathematics–and I like to think in Chippewa Valley we've been ahead of the curve because we've been doing that for 27 years," said Superintendent Ron Roberts. "Thank you to all those people who are involved in the program and we really appreciate the effort that you make."

Both and advanced to the state tournament at Michigan State University this year, competing against 48 of the best science teams across Michigan, respectively.

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