By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Students from Thompson Intermediate School and Thompson Sixth Grade Center brought home plenty of hardware during a recent Science Olympiad competition at Auburn University.

The Science Olympiad team, which is comprised of students from TIS and TSGC, traveled to Auburn on Saturday, Feb. 20, to compete against 30 other teams from across the state.

Each team contained about 25 students each, and the students competed against each other in a variety of events incorporating the STEM program, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

“All events (at the Science Olympiad) are STEM activities, which require knowledge, problem solving, collaboration, the element of surprise and sometimes changing a plan rather quickly,” TIS gifted education teacher Susan Mitchell wrote in an email. “Members were also given the opportunity to listen to guest speakers who are experts in the field of science.”

The Feb. 20 competition at Auburn was the second competition of the year for the Alabaster team, as the team previously attended a competition at the University of West Alabama.

The TIS/TSGC team is coached by Mitchell and TIS fifth-grade teacher Holly Richardson, and earned a seventh-place finish at the Auburn competition out of 30 teams.

The following Alabaster students placed in the following categories at the Auburn competition:

Bridge Building: Third place – Karson Kendrick and Caitlin Attaway

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures: Third place – Ryan Furlong and Connor Dunn

Food for Thought and Energy: Fourth place – Sam Zoebelein and Ashlyn Gamble

Knock, Knock Who’s There?: Fourth place – Ethan Miniard

Leaf and Tree Finder: Third place – Ryan Furlong and Gabby Hosmer

No Bones About It: Fourth place – Noe Cortright and Savannah Nabors

Pond Study: Fourth place – Carter McGraw and Adyson Keough

Simple Machines: Fifth place – Jorge Millan and Braxton Franklin