The Athens Drive Science Olympiad team won second place in the Chatham Regional tournament Jan. 25th, 2025, qualifying them for the state competition in April. Science Olympiad is a program that seeks to spread knowledge about the sciences. Students participate in various events to test their knowledge. Their recent success has sparked determination throughout the team as they look forward to more challenging competitions.

“Athens Drive has not been to States since 2018. If we want to do well, we will have to step up our game and increase our capabilities going forward,” said Head Coach Andrew Roberts.

The team’s achievement at regionals is a major milestone that sets up the club’s future.

“We’re all really glad that our hard work has paid off. I think our returning members can see that our team is only getting better each year, which is motivating us to push even harder for the state tournament,” said co-president Ketaki Mijar, senior. “The new members also got to witness a successful first competition, which I believe is motivating to them as well,” added Mijar.

Senior Sana Rahmani, the dedicated co-president of the Science Olympiad, emphasized the effort and timely preparation involved in achieving this milestone.

“We had to work hard to ensure that our teams were working with each other properly. We sacrificed a lot of our time to prepare, staying after school and studying during lunch,” Rahmani said.

The commitment of the team has set the stage for their continued success as the state competition approaches.

Over the years, the team has faced many challenges, including a lack of commitment, scheduling issues, and difficult competition against some of the state’s top teams.

“The thing that keeps me motivated is my love for learning. Even though we have had many losses over the last couple of years, knowing that I contributed even a small amount fuels me to keep going,” said Rahmani.

This resilience has been woven into every aspect of the team and has been key to its growth.

For the future, Roberts has ambitious goals for the team.

”We’re on a good path, we have three teams, two Junior Varsity and one Varsity. This makes future varsity team selections more competitive. More teams means more experience, which is hard to come across in the Science Olympiad. My ten-year plan is to look at nationals, and in five years, I hope to lead our team to be one of the most competitive in the state.”

The Athens Drive Science Olympiad team is more determined than ever.
They have their sights set on state and national competitions. The team continues to prepare for the upcoming competition, hoping to set the stage for future achievements against the most competitive schools in the nation.

“I have a lot of hope for the future of our team based on the dedication I saw this year,” Rahmani said.