By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Clanton Intermediate School won first place overall at the Elementary Science Olympiad at Jacksonville High School on Feb. 24.

The team score was calculated by awarding the school a certain number of points for each place earned in each of the categories.

Team sponsor Trish Karn said CIS does well at the competition every year, but this was only the second time the school had taken top honors in the seven years it had competed. She said the team put in “a lot of hard work and a lot of study” this year.

Team sponsor Brooke Sullivan said there were 34 schools competing this year, making it the largest competition yet.

The trophy is now proudly displayed in the office of the school.

CIS reached this milestone by winning Grab a Gram, Science Decades, Science Detectives and Science of Music. CIS students placed second in How Do You Spell Science, Bridging the Gap, Dinosaurs and Disasters, Geometrics, In Bloom, Triple Play and Unbreakable.

Larissa McKee and Ella Young won Grab a Gram. They had to fill a cup with an assortment of items that would weigh 50 grams.

McKee said this was her favorite category because they “had a fun time doing it, and it was easy for us because we practiced a lot.”

Young said Pasta Transporter, creating a vehicle from pasta and glue, was her favorite.

“You have to roll it down a ramp, and it has to go the farthest (to win),” Young said.

The vehicle also had to carry small items, like nails.

Jaden Bryant and McKee won Science Detectives.

Bryant said they had to find an object in the room that matched the scientific property they were given, such as translucent. Teams also had to name the properties of objects they were given.

Marynn Vaith and Macey Pierce won in Science Decades. Vaith said they had to give the year for science and technology events. This year, the events were from the 1980s. Vaith said she studied the events to be ready for the competition.

Pierce said her favorite category was Which Way’s North.

“It was fun to figure out where you were (on the map),” Pierce said.

Students completed activities using a map of Alabama, rulers and calculators.

CIS placed third in this category.

Breanna Perault and Catherine Stone won Science of Music.

Perault said this was her favorite category.

“You have to learn about the different parts of sound waves and about instruments and what their volume is in decibels,” Perault said.

Stone said her favorite category was How Do You Spell Science, in which students had to spell science-related words, because she likes spelling.

Many of the students had friends on the team, either this year or in previous years, that made them want to participate. Several of the first-place winners also said the categories had sounded fun.

Students are chosen for the Science Olympiad team based on academic test scores and teacher recommendation. CIS competes with a team of fifth-grade students each year.