The Paw Print

By Alexa Gola

Following a remarkable performance at the Chicago Public Schools Science Olympiad Regionals, Payton’s varsity team recently enjoyed a successful learning experience at the Illinois Science Olympiad State Tournament. 

Held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, the tournament hosted a variety of teams from across the state. Participants competed in events such as Optics, Forensics, Robot Tour, Forestry and Tower. 

Reaching this level of competition was no easy feat, with CPS significantly decreasing the number of Science Olympiad teams moving on to state, creating an environment where Payton competed against larger, better-funded teams for qualifying spots.

In spite of these challenges, Payton’s team came together to make it to state. Science Olympiad Capitan Dimitri Gunawan ‘25 attributes this success to a sense of community among members, saying that, “My teammates have become my closest friends and everyone seems to learn from everyone else.”

“My favorite part of SciOly is making friends,” Linnrue Wei ‘26 agreed, adding that she also enjoys learning, working, and preparing for events with her teammates. 

Meanwhile, as Payton prepared for states, the team encountered further challenges, including unanticipated issues with build events and several last minute substitutions. As a result, the team didn’t perform as well as they would have liked to.

Still, there was still plenty of success to be found in Payton’s Science Olympiad experience. “Seeing the team go to States was a great learning experience, and I hope to guide the team towards nationals next year,” Gunawan said. 

“I do definitely think we have a lot of potential to place well at state,” Wei said, citing making the varsity team and placing well in her events as personal goals for next year.

Capitan Gunawan is looking forward to the future of Payton’s Science Olympiad team, and would like to encourage anyone interested in STEM to consider joining Science Olympiad. In a few final words, he said, “I learned a lot from my events, and I think many enjoy it too.”