CITY OF INDUSTRY – Glen A. Wilson High School’s Science Olympiad team competed in 23 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) events and ranked first overall against more than 55 Los Angeles County schools during the 2023 Southern California Science Olympiad Regionals at Rio Hondo College on March 4.

Students were eager to return to the tournament for their seventh consecutive year, hopeful of defending their 2022 standings. This day-long event is designed to improve the quality of K-12 science education, increase student interest in STEM and celebrate outstanding student achievements.

“I’m proud of the hard work our team put into this competition and seeing them celebrate that night will be something I’ll never forget,” team captain Jennifer Yang said. “I promise we’ll continue working hard and give 120% at our state competition.”

The standards based challenges require students to showcase knowledge in biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, technology and engineering. Some events consisted of scientific facts and concepts, while others focused on building, coding and other hands-on practices.

“I’m really proud of our students and what we have accomplished at the Southern California Los Angeles Championships,” coach Jungsoo Han said. “Everyone on the team was aiming for first place and worked hard to reach their milestones along the way. We worked, struggled and won as a team. Our next stop is the State Championships.”

Before Regionals, Wilson’s budding scientists took first place at the Science Olympiad tournament at the UC Davis Aggie Invitational on Jan. 14. During the Regionals awards ceremony, Wilson took home first place in seven events and received top honors in 16 others, leading to their overall-winning score of 77 points.

Wilson is now preparing to compete for the coveted title of State Champion at the Southern California State Tournament on Saturday, April 8, at the California Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Education and myself, congratulations to our Glen A. Wilson High School Science Olympiad team on your well-deserved back-to-back Science Olympiad Regional tournament titles,” Superintendent Dr. Alfonso Jiménez said. “At Hacienda La Puente Unified, we are huge advocates of inspiring future leaders in STEM-related college and careers pathways and look forward to seeing our students continue to explore their passions and love of science education.”

PHOTO CAPTION:

HLPUSD_SCIENCEOLYMPIAD: Glen A. Wilson High School’s Science Olympiad team celebrates their reigning Regional Championship title during the Southern California Science Olympiad Regionals awards ceremony on March 4.