Manistee Science Olympiad team takes 3rd at state competition

“We usually do well, but this is definitely an exceptional finish for us,” said Kevin Postma, who coaches the team with Bridget Warnke. “When you look at who we are competing with, it gives you an idea of the quality of education that our kids have received at Manistee (Area) Public Schools. They got edged out by two teams that draw from huge metro areas, and one costs over $30,000 a year just to attend.”

Manistee finished behind West Michigan Aviation Academy and Detroit Country Day.

Postma said it was nice to see a school from a neighboring county round out the top four.

“I have to give a shout-out to Benzie Central, who was the fourth-place Division B school,” he said. “They gave us a run for our money at the regional tournament, and they scored an eighth place finish in Forensic Science, which earned them a podium spot.”

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The Chippewas punched their ticket to the state competition by winning a Region 3 Science Olympiad competition at Mid Michigan College in Mount Pleasant on March 19.

Science Olympiad is a team competition in which students compete in various events pertaining to various fields of science, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics and engineering.

Warnke said with only one senior on the squad, the Chippewas are poised for another successful campaign next season.

“What is very exciting as a coach is how young of a group we have and how well they did,” she said in an email. “We are very excited for the upcoming years of competition. These kids will no doubt be great assets to the future of science.”

Among Manistee’s top finishers were Noah Maue and Luke Smith, who placed third in the Source Code event, in which they solved problems by writing computer programs.

Solana Postma and Dylan Madsen took fifth in the Green Generation event, which tests students’ understanding of ecology principles, issues and solutions.

It’s often difficult for coaches to say goodbye to their seniors at the end of the season, but for Kevin Postma, it is particularly difficult this year because the team’s sole senior is his daughter, Solana.

“I have coached Science Olympiad for close to 20 years because I know that it has an impact on students and often influences their college career path choices. … Now that I have had the opportunity to see the impact that it has had on my own child, I believe even more deeply in the impact that it has on students,” he said. “She has competed in an event organized by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevented) titled Disease Detectives all throughout her high school career, and now she is off to Johns Hopkins (University) to pursue public health.

“I can’t tell you how proud her mom and I are of her and thankful that Science Olympiad provided her with an introduction to the field of disease tracking and monitoring.”

Annika Haag and Avery Vaas placed seventh in Botany by demonstrating used their knowledge of plant biology and horticulture.

Smith and Sarah Huber’ understanding of variability of low- and mid-mass stars led to an eighth-place finish in the Astronomy event.

Ben Schlaff and Solana Postma were tested on their knowledge of chemical reactions, characterization and quantification of freshwater en route to a ninth-place finish in the Environmental Chemistry event.

“We push students to do their best to break into the top 20 because it will help set them apart when they apply to colleges,” Kevin Postma said. “Our kids were able to do this in 11 of the 23 events, which tells me how strong we are as a team.”