Science dreams taking flight in Lake County

Take notice, Boeing, Valerie and Hannah are just about ready to join your team.

The two students at Beardsley Middle School in Crystal Lake held their breath and counted the seconds Saturday as their balsa wood airplane flew lazy circles toward the roof of the gymnasium.

The girls were among hundreds of middle and high school students competing in the regional Science Olympiad at the College of Lake County in Grayslake. The Science Olympiad, now in its 26th year, challenges children in 23 areas of biology, earth science, astronomy, physics and engineering and allows them to compete against their peers.

At an awards ceremony, officials honored five high schools and eight middle schools. The high schools were Buffalo Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Grayslake Central and Stevenson high schools. Daniel Wright Middle School, Grayslake Middle School, Hawthorn North Middle School, North Shore Country Day School, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Park View, Pope John XXIII and Thomas Middle School were also honored.

Twelve high schools and 18 middle schools from Lake, McHenry and Cook counties sent teams of up to 15 students each to the competition.

Wilcox said the teams can enter as many of the 23 events as they liked, and overall combined team scores determined which eight middle school and five high schools advanced to the state competition next month in Champaign.

The top two teams in that event will compete with those from 47 other states in the national Olympiad set for May, also in Champaign.

Specifications are tight in the building classes, explained Olympiad official John Brayton, but there is always room for innovation.

In the airplane created by Valerie Sveden and Hannah Swerbenski, for example, the plane's frame is planks of balsa cut to the exact width and length specified by the rules.

The girls explained after the flight of their personal Phoenix that they used a propeller from a model plane kit and glued tiny strips of brass tubing to the frame for stabilizers.

And for motivation, they appeared to have tapped into the same source that inspired DaVinci and the Wright brothers.

"I wanted to build something," Valerie said. "And I wanted to see it fly."