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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Clanton Intermediate School placed fourth in this year’s Elementary Science Olympiad.

The team and coaches were recognized at the Chilton County Board of Education meeting on March 21.

“They really did an amazing job,” CIS Principal Louise Pitts said.

After not having a team since 2020, when the school placed fourth, Pitts asked science teacher Lisa Russell to lead a team. There were 23 students and three other faculty coaches, Rachel Daly, Hannah Thrash and Justin Watkins. None of them had participated in the event in the past.  The CIS team competed against 18 other schools in hands-on challenges and tests related to science.

“They were one point away from being third place, so that was amazing,” Pitts said.

Members of the team included Sean Baker, Aaric Bee, Danica Bell, Micah Bone, Hudson Carroll, Grady Carter, Alston Chen, Ellison Ferguson, Kaydence Headley, Olivia Lynn, Anna Mims, Caroline Moatts, Madoc Morris, Kevin Nguyen, Jose Palacios Montes, Allison Petty, Lily Pitts, Lindsey Pitts, Allie Porter, Ethan Price, Edward Saucedo Cifuentes, Mary Porter Thornhill and Emmalia Wilkins.

Students competed as smaller teams in multiple competitions throughout the day long event at Jacksonville High School. Aaric and Jose placed first in the Dinosaurs and Disasters competition. Madoc and Kevin won the Flight Test. Lindsey and Ethan won Pasta Transporter. Mary, Edward and Emmalia placed first in Write It, Do It. Several teams also placed second or third in their categories.

Eligibility for the Science Olympiad team was based on the student’s score on the science portion of the ACAP state standardized test. Students who scored a perfect four on the science portion were eligible to be on the CIS team.