2 S.D. Schools Excel at National Science Show

They identified insects, interpreted topographic maps and analyzed chemicals--practicing hours to do it. But the hard work paid off.

A 15-student team from La Jolla High School took top honors in the national Science Olympiad in Kansas City, Mo., over the weekend, while a team from Bell Junior High School in East San Diego was awarded fourth place, in competition with teams from 38 states.

“It’s like a sports team, only it starts in September and doesn’t end until May,” said Joseph Baron, a coach for the La Jolla team. “They practiced in the early mornings, during lunch, after school. Some students went to Saturday workshops and Sunday activities. . . . It was a long, arduous process, but it did pay off in the end. They did a great job.”

“The students are ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic,” said James F. Ballantine, science coach of Bell’s team. “They’re already talking about next year. The students worked really, really hard, and have a lot to be proud of.”

Students from the 100 teams, half at the junior high level and half at the high school level, competed individually and in small groups at Saturday’s annual competition, sponsored by the Army, in 23 categories from bridge building to genetics.

Local organizations contributed $10,000 to each team to cover the costs of going to Kansas City, Ballantine said.

Cori Van Noy, freshman at Bell Junior High School, competed in the category of insect identification. “I studied for a month on weekends with an entomology professor from San Diego State University,” she said. “We had to go around to stations and classify insects by their order and common name and their economic importance. There were some beetles that were fairly hard to identify.”

La Jolla High School had never won the national competition, but placed third last year and fifth in 1989. Bell Junior High School has placed second in the Southern California Science Olympiad for the past three years, but this was the first time the school made it to the nationals, Van Noy said.

To make it to the national competition, both teams had to take first place in the San Diego County and Southern California competitions.

Several students were awarded first place in various categories. The following students finished first from La Jolla High School:

Juniors Grete Hemmingson and Colin Campbell for insect identification; juniors Jason Oakley and John King for bridge building; and junior Ernie Tomlinson and senior Larry Lee for the chemistry lab competition.

From Bell Junior High School, ninth-grader Lavelle Sheppard was awarded first place in the aerodynamics category. Sheppard devised a paper airplane that stayed aloft for 35 seconds, Ballantine said.