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Mar 20 2025

For the first time in more than 40 years, Brooks students competed in the Massachusetts State Science Olympiad, conducted on March 1 at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.

Normally held during Brooks’ Spring Break, the date of the national STEM competition shifted to the start of the month this year, making it possible for 14 Brooks students to participate.

Science Teacher Michael Dixon started preparing the team during the first semester with bimonthly practices for the main event, in which groups of two to three students collaborate on earth science, biology, chemistry, physics and engineering challenges.

“It exposes students to things they would not have tried on their own, gives them autonomy around the process and is often college-level content,” according to Dixon, who proudly reported that Brooks’ team came in 38 out of 70. ”A solid job for our first time!”

The Olympiad’s 26 different events were “a fun activity and great exposure to many different types of science and engineering, as well as professional connections,” he noted.

Yet work, it is: The competition that Dixon said “pushes and challenges to the highest level,” started at 7 a.m. and ran until 5 p.m.

At the end of the day, the Brooks team scored well in the bungee drop, chemistry clue and tower building contest. Suki Liu ’27 received a top-10 finish for her tower that was 1,300 times more efficient than its weight!

”The students had a ball and enjoyed being on campus with 700-plus high school students,” Dixon said. “We hope to do it again.”

See photos from their competition day.

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