East students shine at MSOE science competition

Elmbrook School District students recently showed their science acumen.

A Brookfield East student received the highest overall score among hundreds of students from more than 30 schools throughout the state and northern Illinois last month at the Milwaukee School of Engineering 2011 Science Competition.

"It felt good to win," Aditya Trivedi, a senior, said. "We were tested in four areas, including general science, biology, chemistry and physics. There were 25 questions in each area."

Trivedi said he scored 82 out of 100 points.

Brookfield East placed third in the team competition.

Also placing well in the competition were students from Brookfield Central who were award winners within the top six for individual scores.

Proud administrators

District officials said competitions like this provide measureable results of the district science program.

"Both East and Central students were able to nurture and showcase their high ability in science and their ability to work as a team at the MSOE science competition," said Kelli Kwiatkowski, math department chairwoman. "Our impressive individual and team placement is a reflection of having highly motivated and able students who not only are taking advantage of Elmbrook honors and Advanced Placement science course, but who are learning science beyond the curriculum due to their zest for learning."

Elyce Moschella, gifted and talented program coordinator, said competing is a healthy endeavor.

"Competitions like these are great for our students and our programs," Moschella said, noting that the tests help reveal what students know individually and as a team, "which is good practice for learning to work collaboratively.

"For our programs, a competition like this gives us insight into how our students perform when compared to other schools from a pretty wide geographic area. The success of our students speaks to the quality of our science courses."

More winners

In addition to Trevedi, Brookfield East team honors went to Julia Barnes, Chang Ge, Max Hoffman, John Meurer, Advik Shreekumar, Tom Wester and Shih-wei Wu.

Scoring third overall, East's team, the members of which all placed within the top six for individual achievement, achieved the highest ranking among Wisconsin schools.

Central students who placed within the top six in individual tests were Sam Soik and Nikil Prasad.

Looking ahead

As for Trivedi, he hopes to one day enter a career that is science related. As for now, though, he is preparing for the next step.

"As a matter of fact," he said, "I am just completing some college applications, so I'm not sure which school I will be attending."