Hemet Unified Schools are always a top competitor in various academic competitions. Our schools place high in Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial, and Robotics. This year, Western Center Academy (WCA) is working on expanding Hemet’s dominance by entering into a new competition, the Science Olympiads, which took place on Saturday, March 4th.
Kimberley Kemmis, a science teacher at Western Center Academy, was excited to enter her team into this year’s Science Olympiads. Kemmis has been involved in Science Olympiads for more than 20 years either as a coach or as part of the planning committee. This year she brought 15 students to compete in the 23-event competition testing students in anatomy, physiology, sensory organisms, and much more!
Kemmis said she used this year as an introduction to the competition. She said they did not compete in all 23 events, but used this year as training. She said her team is at an advantage for the upcoming years because they are mainly comprised of freshman, which will help them build the program for a couple years. After the competition, students came back to school with a vengeance. Students began recruiting students in hopes of becoming a top competitor next year.
Team member Sara Oike said the fact that because everyone works together it acts as inspiration to the team. To prepare for the competition, students worked in groups of twos to focus on specific categories of the competition. They said this process helped because when they are facing challenges, there is someone there to help brainstorm different solutions.
“Despite your interest you can find something to be interested in,” said team member Krystal Horton. Team members said the club exposed thems to different areas, which broadens their minds to different career paths they may want to pursue in the future.
Thank you Kimberley for creating a team that exposes students at WCA to different fields of study they may not have been interested in before. Congratulations to the team for competing in their first Science Olympiads competition on March 4th at Ramona High School in Riverside!
If you are a student and are interested in joining Science Olympiads contact Kimberley Kemmis for more information.