Providence Academy Student Places First at Science Olympiad State Meet

Providence Academy seventh grader Daniel Mokhtari took first place in the bridge building competition during the Science Olympiad State Meet on Saturday, March 5^th at the University of St. Thomas.

Mokhtari, a member of the Academy’s first Science Olympiad team, is the son of Sasan Mokhtari and Mary Brown of Plymouth.  He was given a set of technical specifications that needed to be followed exactly when building his bridge, but the materials used to build the bridge were up to his discretion.  The competition was scored on how much weight the bridge could hold (maximum of 15 kg), divided by the weight of the bridge itself.  The challenge was to create a strong, yet light bridge.  Mokhtari’s bridge weighed only 12 g, and held more than 14 kg. 

Out of the 33 teams present at the state meet, two additional groups of Providence students received high rankings for their projects.  Eighth graders Christopher Qualy, son of John and Donna Qualy of Minnetonka, and Matthew Westrum, son of James and Jean Westrum of Maple Grove took fourth place in the plane building competition.  The catapult built by sixth grader Peter Simonse, son of Peter and Jean Simonse of Edina and seventh grader Nicholas Peterson, son of Wayne and Gina Peterson of Eden Prairie, finished in seventh place.

Science Olympiad is a national, competitive science program for all age groups.  Students complete projects from all science disciplines, including biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology.  Activities are balanced between those requiring knowledge of science facts, concepts, processes, skills and applications.  More than 14,000 K-12 schools from all 50 states and Ontario currently participate in the Science Olympiad Program.

Above:  Members of Providence Academy’s first Science Olympiad team. 
Back Row (left to right):  Nick Peterson, Matthew Westrum and Christopher Qualy 
Front Row (left to right):  Peter Simonse and Daniel Mokhtari holding his winning bridge

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