CLINTON: Science Town AND Academic Bowl City of South Carolina - with photos.
Clinton High and Clinton Middle Complete SC Science Olympiad Sweep.
As Yoda may have said in a galaxy far, far away but more clearly and concisely articulated by the Clinton Anatomy teams’ coach, Dr. Stan Walsh, “No longer is there a disturbance in the force. The balance returns and a new streak begins.”
Last year was unexpected…the CMS Science Olympiad team did not win state for the first time since 2003.
This time, the team left nothing to chance or a repeat of that fate. Although limited to only a few teams this year (again because of COVID) like last year, this team took no prisoners…winning seventeen of twenty-three events and securely planting the state championship in Clinton.
Every student on the team of eighteen won at least one medal. The middle school team won first place and left no doubt. Team members with their number of gold, silver, or bronze medals are Jackie Alcudia (1, 2, 0), Kaelyn Bell (1, 1, 0), Liam Bell (1, 1, 2), Rylee Bell (2, 1, 0), Lauren Ficklin (2, 1, 0), Sam Hunt (3, 1, 0), Salaam Jenkins (2, 2, 0), Jacob King (2, 2, 0), Matthew King (4, 0, 0), Shayne Kiselak (2, 0, 0), Hank Lanford (1, 0, 0), Kelly Nelson (0, 1, 2), Sidney Nelson (1, 0, 1), Junia Nolan (1, 1, 0), Arohi Patel (3, 0, 0), Ada Tiller (4, 1, 0), Ben Wiggins (2, 0, 0), and Marlee Williamson (1, 3, 0).
The high school Science Olympiad team faced very stiff competition from teams across the state — Academic Magnet (Charleston), Aiken Scholars Academy, Chapin, Dutch Fork, Irmo, Lexington, River Bluff, Spring Hill, Spring Valley, and West Ashley.
Once the dust settled near dusk, the high school team stood at the top of the competition, joining their middle school peers, as state champions. The CHS team won seven first-place events (gold medals), two second-place events (silver medals), and six third-place events (bronze medals).
First place events and gold medalists include:
Chemistry Lab [Grin Darden and Rachel Vondergeest]Disease Detectives (Epidemiology) [Shane Nelson and Rachel Vondergeest]Dynamic Planet (Earth Science: Earth’s Fresh Waters) [Joey Ardelt and Shane Nelson]Experimental Design [Keegan Fortman, Rachel Vondergeest, Gracie Wiggins]Forensics [ Julieta Garcia and Anna Litzenberger]It’s About Time (a physics event where participants build a time device capable of keeping time to the second as well as complete a test on concepts of space and time) [Joey Ardelt and Grin Darden] andRocks and Minerals [Grin Darden and Becca King]Second place events and silver medalists include:
Anatomy and Physiology [Anna Litzenberger and Rachel Vondergeest]Bridge Building [Keegan Fortman and Gracie Wiggins}This place events and bronze medalists include:
Cell Biology [Grin Darden and Rachel Vondergeest]Detector Building [Jules Darden and Maddox Wilbanks]Environmental Chemistry [Becca King and Shane Nelson]Ping Pong Parachute [Keegan Fortman and Gracie Wiggins]WiFi Lab [Jules Darden and Julieta Garcia]Wright Stuff [Keegan Fortman and Gracie Wiggins]In addition to the podium places, CHS also had four fourth-place finishes.
Science Olympiad is a competition Clinton schools (Bell Street/Clinton Middle and Clinton High) have done since 1986. Mr. Michael Mack, the current AP Biology teacher at CHS, brought Science Olympiad to District 56.
Bell Street/Clinton Middle has won the state championship twenty times since 1986; Clinton High School, eleven times.
Science Olympiad is an all-day, twenty-three event competition encompassing all areas of science, engineering, technology, and math. Events change annually marking the fact of Clinton’s continued excellence in science all the more amazing.
Coach Terri O’Shields does double duty serving as head coach of both the Clinton Middle and the Clinton High School teams. Coach O’Shields says, “Science Olympiad is more than a team competition; it is the intentional building of a family of learners, a commitment to excellence, and a recognition that success takes sacrifice and dedication.”
Coach O’Shields also thanked the many coaches who helped with the teams over the year — Lawrence Coleman, Kevin Cox, Jimmy Jacobs, Allison Lanford, Jimbo Langston, Michael Mack, Ami Meadors, Patrick Nelson, Shane Nelson, Dr. David O’Shields, Maggie O’Shields, Mason Pysell, Katie Scarlett, Scott Shiflet, Dr. Jason Smith, Dianne Summer, Ami Vaughn, Rachel Vondergeest, Dr. Stan Walsh, and Brandon Wolfe.
“Without public support and special attention from a dedicated cast of knowledgeable and willing-to-learn coaches, the team would not be where it is today,” Ms. O’Shields continued. “Science Olympiad is a year-long commitment. This year was extremely difficult due to no in-person invitationals or extrinsic incentives. We had great hopes to attend several invitationals but COVID put a stop to that; however, the team stayed together and worked weekend after weekend and on weeknights.”
“Clinton is a relatively small high school, much smaller than most of those we compete against. Our students are very involved in so many other activities that Science Olympiad has to remain a priority…even when students are juggling multiple sports, clubs, or teams. You have to learn to use time effectively and not procrastinate. Students choose Science Olympiad because of their curiosity or desire to learn. As long as students remain interested, I think Clinton will be a force for years to come,” Ms. O’Shields cautiously admitted.
Well at least for this year, the balance has returned to Science City, South Carolina (aka Clinton). Great job to both teams and their coaches on bringing home the first place trophies. These two new trophies have many friends to meet in their respective trophy cases.
Both teams will compete virtually for nationals during the weekend of May 13 - 15, 2022. Cal Tech is the host site for the 2022 Science Olympiad.
For more on the history of the South Carolina Science Olympiad, please check out the following source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Science_Olympiad . Former CMS and CHS teammate, Patrick Nelson, edits and posts to this site on an as-needed basis.
Clinton High Academic Team Wins State; Clinton Middle School Earns Second Place.
Friday morning, March 25, 2022 the Clinton High and Clinton Middle School Academic Teams headed to Kershaw County for the Eighth South Carolina Academic Team State Championship.
The contest pits the winners of the four sponsoring and participating educational consortia (the Olde English, the Pee Dee, the Midlands, and the Western Piedmont). Clinton High School and Clinton Middle School are part of the Western Piedmont group, more commonly known as WPEC (Western Piedmont Educational Consortium).
This particular consortium has the following districts as members: Abbeville County, Anderson 3 (Crescent), Edgefield County, Greenwood 50 (Greenwood), Greenwood 51 (Ware Shoals), Greenwood 52 (Ninety Six), Laurens 55, Laurens 56, Lexington 3 (Batesburg-Leesville), McCormick County, Newberry County, Saluda County, and Union County.
Both CHS and CMS won their respective championships during the WPEC competition--in December for the high school and early March for the middle school.
Months upon months of preparation, practice, scrimmages, and computer competitions honed the skills, reflexes, and copious amounts of information able to be recalled in a split second. Much like team jeopardy, Academic Bowl is based on the College Bowl of the 1960s and 1970s. Knowledge, reasoning, anticipation, and speed all come together for the very best academic teams.
Since the State Championship is based on enrollment, Clinton High School, although a AAA team, competed and won the Large School Division against Greenwood, Laurens, and Emerald High Schools in the fall. Clinton Middle School also won their WPEC championship against Mid Carolina, Westview, and Brewer.
Having earned their right to play in the state championship, the teams left Friday morning with the hopes of bringing recognition back to their district and their consortium.
Central Carolina Technical College and the Woolard Technology Center hosted the event. Think of the National Championship Football Playoff for a good comparison of how the contest works. Each consortium has their champions for the Large and Small School Divisions play against a paired opponent from another consortium.
Clinton High School played Rock Hill High School (from the Olde English Consortium) in the semifinals and defeated Rock Hill by a score of 43 - 23.
Clinton Middle School played Williams Middle School (from the Pee Dee Consortium) in the semifinals and defeated Williams by a score of 39 - 28.
Clinton Middle played for the state championship against Indian Land Middle School (from the Olde English Consortium) and lost on the last question, 35 - 36. The CMS students gave an incredible effort and played extremely well. The CMS team finished 2nd in the state.
The last match of the day featured Clinton High School taking on Spring Valley High School (from the Midlands Consortium). After a tied first quarter, 8 - 8, Clinton High surged into the lead at the end of the second quarter, 20 - 15. The third quarter tightened a bit with the score at the end of that quarter, CHS 28 and SVHS 25. Clinton High School surged a little in the fourth quarter to win a tightly contested match, 39 - 33.
Clinton High earned its second consecutive South Carolina Academic Team Championship. Clinton High also won in 2020 against Nation Ford High School.
Terri O’Shields is the head coach of both teams; Hugh Pace is the teams’ statistician and best bus driver ever. Jeff Parks, principal at CMS, attended and offered his support for the middle school team. A sizable number of parents and family members were also in attendance for the middle school competition.
Patrick Nelson and Asheton Wilbanks, both former teammates and members of the 2020 championship team, attended and supported both teams in their championship quest.
Both Clinton Academic teams represented the district and their respective schools extremely well. For a small town, Clinton continues to punch above its weight and prove the old adage correct, “Dynamite comes in small packages.” Great job, Wildcats and Red Devils.
