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Dr. Russell Hardie continues to serve as a Science Olympiad event coach at Tower Heights Middle School in Centerville, Ohio. Science Olympiad (https://www.soinc.org/) school teams are made up of 15 students that represent their school and compete in 23 different events in subgroups. The events cover a broad swath of science and technology from Anatomy to Thermodynamics.
In the 2019 season, Dr. Hardie coached the events Circuit Lab and Density Lab. His Circuit Lab and Density Lab teams both finished 1st at regionals, and in 2nd and 3th place, respectively, at the state tournament at Ohio State University. As one of the top two finishers at the Ohio state tournament, Tower Heights qualified for the national tournament held this year at Cornell University. The 60 team national middle school field includes the state champions from nearly all 50 states. At national’s, Dr. Hardie’s Circuit Lab and Density Lab teams finished 4th and 12th, respectively. The overall team finished 18th in this highly competitive field.
These young students are a joy to coach and they take to the college level material in a way I would have never thought possible for 6-9th graders. I am so proud of all of the students I have coached over the past 5 years for their interest in learning, and the effort and commitment they have put forward.
Dr. Hardie’s wife, Karen Hardie, is the head coach of the team for the 2020 season and has been the co-head coach for the team since 2015. Dr. Hardie’s son, Justin (now in 8th grade), competes on the team in several events including the astronomy event. Dr. Hardie’s daughters, who graduated from the team and now compete on the Centerville High School team, continue to play a role to help out with the middle school. Alison coaches some of the earth science events for the team (following in the footsteps of her grandfather). Emily, helps with coaching for the event Crime Busters (and other events).
The 2019 Tower Heights Middle School Science Olympiad Team at Cornell University for the national tournament.
Some of the student members of the 2019 Tower Heights Middle School Circuit Lab team building and testing potato and lemon batteries under the direction of Dr. Russell Hardie.
2017 State Champions
The Tower Heights Middle School Science Olympiad team finished first out of 40 school teams at the
2017 State of Ohio Science Olympiad tournament held at The Ohio State University on April 1, 2017. With this victory, the team earned the honor of representing Ohio at the national tournament in May, marking the first time a team from Tower Heights will compete in the national tournament.
I support Science Olympiad as an outreach activity. I have served as a coach for Tower Heights Middle School since 2013 in several events. These include:
Reach for the Stars
Density Lab
Circuit Lab
Shock Value (Electric Circuit Analysis)
Crave the Wave (Wave Physics)
Optics
Wind Power
Hovercraft
Elastic Launch Gliders
Bottle Rockets
See my announcements section for the latest news.
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