HAMILTON — The Hamilton High School Broncs have heard their name called to the stage to be announced as State Championships for the Science Olympiad team for six years.
Senior Hamilton High student Brooklyn Brown says that although science has always been her favorite subject, it took a little bit of convincing to join the extracurricular.
"So I was actually asked by my teachers all through middle school and the start of high school to join Science Olympiad. I was always like, I took all the engineering classes and science was always my favorite subject. And finally, Miss Haflich just convinced me to join it. And it did help a lot that my best friend was also training it,” Brown said.
When it comes to preparing for the state competition, Brown says that the design of the events was her favorite part of the preparation.
"So this year for the state competition, I did scrambler and tower. And I, it's really difficult because they're very different events. But tower, most of the time goes into the build itself while scrambler is the other way around," Brown explained.
"And it's just about testing it over and over and over again. I really do enjoy the design aspect of tower and being able to change it every time but scrambler, it's really fun, just trying to figure out how to get the best results,” Brown continued.
This year, as a senior Brown has a special experience at the state competition.
“I was really, really excited. So we knew our tower was very good. We just based off of looking at other people's towers, and our Tower Raid — about eight grams — which was very light for what it held. It held almost the full weight," Brown told MTN.
"So we were pretty confident going in. [It] was still such an exciting moment. And this was I believe this was my first time actually winning first. I've won second, third a few times. But winning first was just really, really exciting,” Brown said.
The Hamilton Broncs will now be making their way to Michigan to compete nationally. Brown says that she’s looking forward to the trip and shares her goals for the competition.
“I really love the team that we have and our coaches like — I get my best friends on this event. I've [been] in Science Olympiad and I have several other friends. So, I'm really excited for the event itself. And I think I have the potential to take top 20th, or maybe even top 10 depending on how it goes," Brown said.
"I'm really excited for Sunday...it's just the day after the competition we go. We're thinking about going to either an MLB game or the zoo...and that's my favorite part because I just get to spend time with my coaches and teammates,” Brown said.
Brown says as a chapter of high school closes for her, she will take the love she has for science that has guided her path for her future.
“It means a lot....so the degree that I'm going into — architectural engineering, I decided that based off of Science Olympiad and... chose my senior project or the fit to Science Olympiad," Brown said. "And it sort of really shaped how my future's going to go. And so it does mean a lot to me. And I'm really glad I did end up joining."
The Science Olympiad means that junior Sierra Berry can explore other fields of science.
“I've got astronomy, like every single year that it's been offered. And it's been a great experience to study it with my dad. He helps me a lot with some of the astrophysics parts of it. And some of the math that I don't understand because it's at a higher level. Like it's happened every year I've been there, but it's like a shock every single time,” Berry said.
When it comes to traveling to a different state to compete against the best of the best, Berry shares what she’s looking forward to for this trip.
“I'm going to be doing scrambler and astronomy. And then on top of that, I'm going to take on forensics. So that'll be interesting. I'm just looking forward to traveling because that's always fun. And also being able to meet people from different schools for sure,” Berry said.
Just downstairs from the Science Olympiad classroom is the Envirothon classroom. And like the Science Olympiad team, the Envirothon team is also on their way to the international competition in New York later this summer.
“We meet all through the spring semester really for the school year. And we spend Thursday evenings here at the high school learning about — not only the special topic for the year — we spend about six or seven weeks learning about alternative energy," Hamilton High School science teacher and assistant coach Eleanor Wintersteen said. "But then also the students are able to meet with local experts in the field of their chosen expertise.
"So they get to really dive in deep in soils or in forestry, or one of those topics, and learn from a local mentor," Wintersteen continued. "So it's a really valuable experience for them to hear about what those careers are actually like. What kind of knowledge is actually important in there. And really prepares them well for the competition and then from a coach kind of watching these kids."
When it comes to the students that she helps coach, watching the students push themselves to succeed at a high level is rewarding.
“We're really impressed with them. We're really proud of them. They work so hard and there were so many of them who really stepped out of their comfort zone to do," Wintersteen told MTN. "This part of the competition involves an oral presentation where they have to get up as a group in front of an audience and speak about something that they've only prepared since that day."
Wintersteen said as a first-year teacher, it’s the hard work and the fun that has made this season successful.
“It really takes a lot of bravery to do that and there's been a lot of growth since the beginning of this season," Wintersteen said. "We're very impressed. So, this is my first year here at Hamilton High School, Marie Antonioli, who's the other coach invited me to join. And I'd never been part of Envirothon before. I took a chance on it and it's been really fun."
Hamilton High School has reigned as state champions for four years. Head coach and Hamilton High School teacher Marie Antonioli says that this program has changed the way that the community sees high schoolers.
"So I've been doing [it] for about 11 years. And one of the things that I absolutely love about it is that it's a challenge. It's difficult. A lot of people think that kids today have short attention spans and that they're lazy. We find the opposite to be true," Antonioli noted.
"We find that when kids get into something that they really feel passionate about and you connect on that emotional level, they work so hard. We're so very proud of our kids the way that they really dig into the topics and find out how complex environmental issues are,” Antonioli continued.
Antonioli says from a teacher and coach perspective, is that it’s a great experience watching these students become passionate about the environment and want to learn more.
“They're excited about it. They want to spend the time and energy to become confident in a particular area. It's the most amazing thing ever and I mean that from the bottom of my heart," Antonioli said. "We want to see these kids energized and enthused and talking about the issues that matter."
" We want them to learn habits at school that they will carry with them to become informed citizens. We don't want them just to have the quick attention spans on their phone," Antonioli continued " We want them to be able to find really reliable information and, and, and to converse and find out that there's all these opposing views and to weigh things pros and cons and it's life, and that's really what is so exciting about coaching. This is that we see these kids grow and become so really passionate about the environment school,” Antonioli said.
While the team members have until July, they will continue to study and learn about the resources that New York has. But carrying the flag of Montana has a different meaning for the coaches, students and the Hamilton community.
"We are just so incredibly proud that these kids have worked so hard to be able to go to that next level. And when they walk across that stage with the Montana flag, it is absolutely awesome," Antonioli said. "And to think that they, they are, they are the, the representatives of our state and that all their hard work paid off and they get to go to New York."
The success rate of the club is in part because of the high retention rate that the club has.
“One thing we see at the high school level — we try to engage kids in any which way we can to be active in a club sport or a, a club like Key Club or something like that or an extracurricular competition like this," Antonioli. "And we want to see those kids engaged because it really helps them succeed as far as Envirothon is concerned. We rarely have kids that drop out.
"So they'll start as freshmen and they'll go all the way through, and we have about 70% to 80% of graduates who then at least as a freshman. They say that they want to continue their studies in natural resources. So that's the confidence building," Antonioli said.
"That is when they have this time that they can really delve into topics in. They learn it. They become very confident and then they want to continue that learning into college. It's very gratifying,” Antonioli said.
Not only is this program successful for the high school, but the community support is also in part responsible for the success of the students.
“That's one thing that's really, really an advantage of in Envirothon, is we build these very strong community partnerships and it is with like the Bitter Root Conservation District. They're one of our major sponsors and they're, they're extremely great about helping us out at any time we ask them." Antonioli said.
"But bringing that community support on board really helps us because they are around high school kids that are motivated, smart, polite and our community was like, oh my goodness, high school kids are really great and we love that. We love that. And then the high school kids are aware of all these community folks that are behind them. So when they go to an international competition, they actually really feel that their community is with them and it's just, it's just amazing,” Antonioli concluded.
