Dexter Students Shine at Local Science Olympiad

By Marissa Dunham, Chrissy Hladky, and Rob Hladky

On Saturday, May 9, over 2000 students from forty local elementary schools participated in a fun day of learning and competition at the Washtenaw County Science Olympiad (WESO), held at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.

WESO was founded in 2002 and is an annual event offering students in grades 2-5 an opportunity to engage in a variety of science and math-focused learning experiences across such diverse topics as aerodynamics and flight mechanics, engineering, native animal knowledge, chemistry, physics, and more.

Every season, volunteer coaches lead teams of 1-5 students per grade across 17 different events, furthering the students’ understanding of science and math. Practices often involve designing experiments, generating hypotheses, and observing and recording outcomes as students apply the scientific method to gain better understanding of the underlying ideas.

Months of effort culminate in a county-wide competition where students go head-to-head against other grade-matched teams from area public, private, and charter schools. On competition day, students are also encouraged to explore a number of open events facilitated by volunteers and community partners, which are designed to encourage curiosity and exploration of various scientific concepts.

For fourth grader Clayton Cislo, competing in his third season of Science Olympiad, the best part of tournament day is “walking into the competition not exactly sure what the question and test will be. It’s like a puzzle. The coolest part is that you compete against forty other schools and no parents or coaches are allowed in the competition room. It’s all up to you.”

This year’s 2026 Dexter team was represented by 63 students competing in 34 grade-level teams across 15 separate events – an increase from 58 students participating in 2025 and 44 students in 2024. The season was a great success, with 13 teams earning top-8 finishes and medals for their efforts. Several Dexter teams placed first in their division, including the second-grade iRobot and Penthatalon teams, the fourth-grade Feathered Friends team, and the fifth-grade On Target team.

Coach Sarah Reeves of this year’s Penthatalon team remarked, “It’s amazing to watch the students’ confidence grow over the course of the season. They learned to test ideas, make adjustments, support their teammates, and keep trying. By competition day, they had become skilled problem-solvers who were ready to compete”.

Notably, the fifth-grade On Target team of Willa Hladky and Nolan Dunham, both fourth graders competing up a division, not only came in first but also became the only team since the event’s inception in 2012 to receive a perfect score.

On Target requires each team to build six rockets (composed of straws, clay nose cones, and paper fins) and launch them at a target placed approximately 10 meters away from the launch zone. Consistency and close teamwork is required to adjust launch parameters in response to previous launch attempts. Finally, the competitors must tackle a written test focused on related scientific concepts. A perfect score required the Dexter team to bullseye the 2.54cm diameter target with each of their final three shots and not miss a single test question.

Science Olympiad sign-up occurs annually through Dexter Community Education, typically in the winter. Contact [email protected] for more information about Dexter’s Science Olympiad teams and possible volunteer opportunities, or www.wesoscience.org for more information about WESO including full results from the 2026 season.

Congratulations to all of Washtenaw County’s Science Olympians on a job well done!

Featured photo: Nolan Dunham (L), Willa Hladky (R), with their first-place blue ribbons. Photo by Marissa Dunham.