On Saturday, March 21, 2026, at the University of Virginia, the Flint Hill Science Olympiad team competed at states in several different events in an attempt to qualify for the national tournament. Flint Hill put in all its effort and got 16th in the standings out of the 33 competing schools. For those who are unaware of what the Science Olympiad is, it’s an opportunity for students to enter a STEM competition with students from all around the nation in many different and unique events. While they participated in a number of events, they achieved monumental goals in a couple of specific categories. For example, they got 1st in Cybersecurity, and 4th in Boomilever, while also making the top 10 in Bungiedrop, Codebusters, forensics, helicopter, and machine.
We had the opportunity to interview a few of the Science Olympiad students and gain some thoughtful insight into their experience at states.
When asked about his time at States, Dylan Feng said, “It was much more difficult than almost anything we’ve done before, and I felt severely unprepared for the level of competition that was upcoming.”
Additionally, we asked him about his year overall in the Science Olympiad program, “Despite some disappointing results from states, I still enjoyed Science Olympiad as I gained considerable knowledge into fields that I would’ve never ventured into otherwise, learned some new study strategies, and met some cool people.”
We were also extremely grateful for the opportunity to interview Sherwin Aflaki, a sophomore who competed in the Science Olympiad for the first time this year.
We asked him similar questions to get a different perspective. Sherwin said, “Getting to go to states for the Science Olympiad was a very fun and cool experience. I was able to see UVA for the very first time, which was a very nice-looking campus. Though Flint Hill unfortunately didn’t place that high, it was still very fun spending time with my fellow huskies.”
Additionally, he rated his experience during the year positively, “Looking back at this year, I really enjoyed my experience in the Science Olympiad. It not only expanded my love for science, but it also helped me get to know people better that I either didn’t know or wasn’t close with.”
Additionally, when given the opportunity to express her opinions, Lilou David, another sophomore who competed in the Science Olympiad this year, had great things to say about the experience. “I enjoyed working with the team and learning new things about disease detectives, and learning how to do the labs. I also really enjoyed going to regionals and meeting a lot of new and different people.”
Overall, our Huskies did a great job this year in Science Olympiad, whether it was the long hours they spent building binders for their events or making sure their builds were perfect on the days that mattered, their efforts did not go unnoticed. Their fellow huskies support them as they learn from this year’s competitions and prepare to reach greater heights in future events.
