In June of 2011, State Representative Marlene Anielski (R-Walton Hills) presented Ohio House resolutions to the Solon Middle and High School Science Olympiad teams for taking first place at the 2011 National Science Olympiad Tournament. Both teams, accompanied by their coach, Drew Kirian, and their families made the trip to Columbus to receive recognition by the Ohio House of Representatives.

Recently, four students—two from each Olympiad team—were further honored by President Obama at the White House Science Fair. Andrew Mikofalvy, Katrina Mikofalvy, Lisa Guo and Kevin Sun traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent the Solon Middle and High School Science Olympiad teams in honor of their national victory.

In light of the accomplishments of the Solon Olympiad teams, Representative Anielski took the opportunity to again discuss the importance of education and the significance of the National Science Olympiad title going to schools located in Ohio during House session on Wednesday.

“The great accomplishments of these students cannot be stressed enough,” said Rep. Anielski. “As we listened to the State of the State address this week, it was frequently reiterated that excellent education is a key component to the future of our state. We are truly blessed in Solon to have outstanding parents, teachers and administrations who enable and encourage our youth to go above and beyond the standard curriculum. It is students like these who will be the future doctors, engineers and leaders in Ohio. Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to strive to build an environment here that fosters excellence in education, so that eventually these bright individuals may enter into competitive job opportunities in Ohio where they can live, work and raise their families in our local communities.”

The 2011 Science Olympiad Tournament consisted of 6,000 teams from 49 states. The exercises at the event tested the students in all STEM disciplines.