Science Olympiad students are preparing for Connecticut state competitions coming up on Saturday, March 18. The students are attempting to perfect their area of science or technology in hopes for a chance to compete for the school official team that will be sent to the Science Olympiad State Championships in Farmington, Conn.

“We think that we can do really well in States,” said Hannah Even. Hannah is specializing in Hovercraft, a physics specialty on the team.

Science Olympiad is an after school activity that is lead by the engineering teacher, Mr. Art Ellis and Mrs. Kathryn Nicholas. This club is dedicated to people who have a love for science and engineering. Science Olympiad teaches kids how to be resourceful with supplies and helps develop problem solving skills. They meet every day from 2:45-5:00 p.m. but the students can decide what days you want to come in.

Bedford Middle School will send 23 students from all three grades to Farmington. There they will compete with up to 14 other groups of students in their areas of expertise. If they get first place in the states, then the team goes to finals in Wisconsin held on May 20-21. There they will compete with teams from every state to have a chance to be the best Science Olympiad team in the country.

Bedford has a good track record for the championships. In 2015, Bedford Middle School ended up in first place. The team went to the national finals in Nebraska. There the team got ranked 35th best team in the country. Another example was the first year that Science Olympiad entered a team into the championships and they went to Kansas.

However, last year the team ended up in second place finishing behind Lyme/Old Lyme, BMS’s Olympiad rival.