Eastern Idaho Science Olympiad Hosted at Idaho State University

Youth from East Idaho were recently on the campus of Idaho State University, competing not in trials of strength and endurance but in feats of STEM.

Saturday, April 13, teams gathered in Pocatello to compete in the Eastern Idaho Science Olympiad. Hosted by ISU’s Department of Physics, five squads of sixth through ninth-grade students from Grace Lutheran Middle School, Hawthorne Middle School, Pocatello Community Charter School, and White Pine Charter School clashed in events ranging in topics from forensics to epidemiology, experimental design, and more. The top three participants in each event took home a gold, silver, or bronze medal.

“This is a great opportunity for young scientists and engineers to apply and test their knowledge outside of a classroom and learn new things while having fun,” said Steve Shropshire, professor of physics at Idaho State University. 

Participants' scores were also tallied to name a team winner. Pocatello Community Charter School took home the top team prize, netting them a trophy and a $200 cash award from the Pocatello Kiwanis Club to support science education. Rounding out the top three were Hawthorne Middle School and Grace Lutheran Middle School, who each took home a trophy of their own and $150 and $50, respectively.  

“Congratulations to all the competitors and their coaches for their efforts,” Shropshire said, “Many of the events were very close.” 

The Eastern Idaho Science Olympiad was made possible by volunteers from Idaho State University’s Departments of Physics, Geosciences, Biological Sciences, and Computer Science, as well as the Pocatello Kiwanis Club and Idaho National Laboratory. 

“Thank you to all of our volunteers for making the event possible and sharing their love of the STEM fields with these students,” said Shropshire. 

For more information on the Eastern Idaho Science Olympiad, contact Steve Shropshire at shrostev@isu.edu or (208) 282-2212.

For more information on ISU’s Department of Physics, visit isu.edu/physics.