Little Rock Central High School Team 2 won first place in the senior high division of the Arkansas Science Olympiad hosted by UALR Saturday, April 14. LISA Academy placed first among middle school teams. The Arkansas state competition is sponsored by UALR’s College of Science and Mathematics, the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), and College of the Ouachitas.

Both winners can compete in the upcoming National Science Olympiad in Orlando, Fla., May 18 and 19, at the University of Southern Florida.

Nettleton High School won second place, and LISA Academy West Campus won third in the Arkansas senior high division. LISA Academy North Campus won second and Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle School won third in the junior high division.

Unlike science fairs, the Science Olympiad consists of two or three students working together to solve various problems at the time of the competition. Each team consists of up to 15 students who spend months preparing for various events that cover life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and technical problem solving.

“The Arkansas Science Olympiad is dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female, and minority interest in science, creating a technology-literate workforce, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers,” said Dr. Eric Kaufmann, professor of mathematics and statistics in the UALR College of Science and Mathematics.

The students from Central High who were on the winning high school team were Abrar Matin, Farhan Kawsar, Aaron Yin, Brendon Song, Claire Schmidt, Annie Meek, Joseph Berleant, Arhita Dasgupta, Ayush Saraswat, Nimit Gandhi, Shruti Shah, Anusheh Ali, Dana Abulez, and Sana Khan.

The students from the LISA Academy winning middle school team were Anna Wolff, Chloe Beall, Evalyn Berleant, Jesse Morrison, Christopher Heredia, Mingjia Wu, Nivetha Svinivasan, Pranav Kolluru, Ryan Kaufmann, Izabelle Harville, Abhigna Penthala, and Leslie Gray.