Plattsburgh HS Science Olympiad: Commanding presence in New York State

PLATTSBURGH | Science Olympiad students at Plattsburgh High School held their last meeting a few days before the state Science Olympiad (SciOly) competition in Syracuse. The group entered three teams, the limit allowed for high school SciOly contests, a total of 45 students. At PHS, that's about 9 percent of the high school population. "And that number is only that 'low' because we are not allowed more than three full teams (15 per team, 45 max). If we could have four teams, we would have 60 students," said their coach, PHS Physics teacher Corey Mousseau. Student dedication and intellect have earned respect in the district and across the state, confirmed in two glass cases full of trophies outside the physics classroom. A force of science, they have been undefeated in the regional Science Olympiad competition since 2009. "Our region is the largest geographical region in New York State, spanning all the way west to the Thousand Islands and as far south as Schroon Lake area," Mousseau said. There are no "divisions" or sectional slates in SciOly. Sections aren't divvied up by school size. Nearly all of the 60 competing schools in state competition are from big districts in major urban New York regions: Stuyvesant H.S., Great Neck South H.S., Syosset H.S. and Brooklyn Technical H.S., John Jay and Northern Academy of the Arts (in Middletown) were among the top 10 finalists. Winning 11th place, Plattsburgh High School came in ahead of schools like the Bronx High School of Science in 12th and Niskayuna in 13th. EVENT ROSTER Two days before state competition at LeMoyne College, Plattsburgh SciOly students met with Mousseau to go over departure times, to stow their builds and wrap up months of work preparing for challenges in 23 events. Parameters for each event are presented at the competition. Individual "events" reach across all fields of science. Some correspond to classroom instruction, but not all. In any event, learning goes beyond textbook. "There are some really niche events," Mousseau said. "For example, this year we have 'Codebusters' where students form a team of three and they work on encrypting and decrypting coded messages. It is super cool." Outside standard curriculum this year were events like "Disease Detectives" (epidemiology) and Water Quality (salination) and Dynamic Earth (oceanography). 2026 NYS SciOly subjects were announced last fall. PHS students review them all and apply to for challenges they are most interested. Mousseau and Assistant Coach Louis Piccirillo convene teams in September and prepare for months. Competition is divided into five categories. Events this year were: LIFE, PERSONAL & SOCIAL SCIENCE events tasked students with challenges in Anatomy and Physiology; Designer Genes; Disease Detectives; Entomology and Water Quality. EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE created events for Astronomy; Dynamic Planet; Remote Sensing; and Rocks and Minerals. PHYSICAL SCIENCE & CHEMISTRY competition events were Chemistry Lab; Circuit Lab; Forensics; Hovercraft; Machines; and Materials Science TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING introduced events in Boomilever; Electric Vehicle; Helicopter and Robot Tour competition. INQUIRY & NATURE OF SCIENCE brought competition in Bungee Drop; Codebusters; Engineering CAD and Experimental Design. "Usually six to eight events have a hands-on component, some are entirely build, some are portions of both a build and a test," Mousseau said. "These events are less directly connected to a high school curriculum, but skills like problem-solving and dealing with setbacks do connect." Connect they do, and PHS students love it. .................................. KIDS CONNECT One of the Plattsburgh High School Science Olympiad team captains Nate Lambert is a PHS senior. He explained that each student is allowed to compete, technically, in eight events. "Generally, we do four or five. I'm doing seven this year," he said. Lambert is a standing SciOly champion, one of seven PHS seniors who have been on the team since freshman year. He took second in Code Busters his sophomore year and fifth last year. As of March 21, he earned 10 medals overall for a top spot on the school's leaderboard. "I'm very passionate about science," Lambert said. "I'm also very competitive, so in this I get to do both." Lifelong friendships enrich a passion for science. "I grew up with most of these kids," Lambert said, gazing around the physics lab. "A win is really about everyone." In his fourth year at SciOly, PHS senior Anthony Zang took on four events: Forensics, Materials Science, Chemistry Lab and Disease Detectives, which challenges teams to find the source of a disease outbreak. The outbreak scenario, he said, is unique. Students have no idea what the disease or vectors are ahead of the event. "You use statistics to figure out the source of an outbreak, it's kind of like a math problem," he said. As the PHS team met that day, Zhang's phone shook silently. He opened it, looked up and smiled. Mousseau looked at him, expectantly: "What?" Zhang had just learned he was accepted at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and told the group. It was a real-life win amid preparations for Science Olympiad. Asked if PHS science lessons correspond to Olympiad events, Zhang said the events integrate learning. "Forensics is not aligned to what we learn at school, but I really enjoy it. There's a lot of hands-on interaction in the lab. different Olympiad challenges made me look into future studies and career options," Zhang said. "It definitely got me way more interested in science. "In Science Olympiad events, you can usually apply what you learn," he added. "I really like thinking in that manner." ......................... WRITE IT, DO IT Team captain Lola Greer prepped for Code Busters with Lambert and junior Azra Gul. The event is a timed test to analyze and decode cyphers. Greer said she and Lambert have for years fiercely contended for a top-tier finish. Working alongside Bennett Dedominichas, a junior, Greer competed in the event "Write It, Do It," where one student is given an object and has 25 minutes to write directions for how to build it. "Then Bennett has to build it using my directions," Greer said. "He has 20 minutes." They practiced with different objects, but had no idea what item they would get at the state tournament. "I just write it out, step-by-step," Greer said. "It usually is four or five pages of instructions." "We practiced most weeks," Dedominichas said. "Then we talked about it, if I needed clarification, and we kept practicing." BOOMILEVERS AND ROBOTIC CARS Soumar Bachawaty, another PHS senior who's been on the team for four years, prepared for four events: Bungee Drop, Electric Vehicle, Boomilever and Anatomy & Physiology. In Boomilever, competitors have to build a wooden lever structure that operates at measurable maximum efficiency to lift specific load tests presented in competition. Nabil Aksamawati-Arja, a sophomore, teamed up with Bachawaty on several projects this year, including Boomilever. They came home with a 3rd place medal for their build. PHS senior Scott Gommel has been part of SciOly since 6th grade at Stafford Middle School. Working with classmates Bachawaty and Quinn Roth, they took on three robotic vehicle build events. The cars they design and build are not remote controlled. They have to program the cars on site, at the event to navigate specific challenges. The Robot Tour requires builders to program their vehicle to navigate an obstacle course. In Electric Vehicle, they program the robot to steer through a gap on a straight course. In Hovercraft, they design and build a hovercraft to travel a specific distance within a set time frame. Bonus points are added if the vehicle finishes within 20 percent of the target time. Speed is tricky with a hovercraft, the students advised. "Robotics could be translated into physics," Gommel said. "It's electromagnetics. What we do in the events comes from all of our classes. It's problem solving, chemistry, calculus and physics." Translating theory into design is not a rote process. "Doing these events really shifted my approach to the way I solve a problem," Gommel said. "Knowing how to view the bigger picture is not just numbers on the paper." Gommel plans to attain a degree in engineering. He and Quinn, who have known each other since preschool, won 3rd place in Hovercraft. Bachawaty and Gommel won 7th place in Electric Vehicle. ......................................................................... TOP 10 MEDALISTS Mousseau is awestruck by PHS students' energy, focus and innate ability to integrate learning. "As usual, the students were incredible all weekend long. The team really does a good job making Plattsburgh look awesome, because we are, of course," he beamed via email after they returned home. "We finished 11th overall out of 60 teams, which ties for our second-best performance in our program's history. This team placement marks a remarkable run with many current seniors being part of our three best season placements at states (9th, 11th, 11th). And we were the 2nd best performing small school, under 1,000 students." Plattsburgh High School medal winners placed in the top 10 were: Codebusters – Lola Greer, Azra Gul, and Nate Lambert – 9th place Hovercraft – Scott Gommel and Quinn Roth – 3rd place Dynamic Planet – James Bayer and Nate Lambert – 9th place Electric Vehicle – Soumar Bachawaty and Scott Gommel – 7th place Boomilever – Nabil Aksamawati-Arja and Soumar Bachawaty – 3rd place Bungee Drop – Nabil Aksamawati-Arja and Soumar Bachawaty – 8th place The 2026 Olympiad was a swan song for many. "In total, we are graduating 13 seniors this year," Mousseau said. "Of these 13, seven have been on the team since 9th grade, or earlier with SciOly at Stafford Middle School." Graduating PHS SciOly seniors are: Soumar Bachawaty, James Bayer, Scott Gommel, Lola Greer, Nathaniel Lambert, Quinn Roth, Anthony Zhang, Logan Beebie – Alternate, Evan Clermont, Calvin Locklin, Abigail Mclean, Connor Sorensen and Emma Tuller.

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Plattsburgh HS Science Olympiad: Commanding presence in New York State

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