6 EDCAL October 22, 2018
Students compete in Science Olympiad
About 30 students at C.J. Morris
Elementary in Walnut Valley USD recently
competed for a spot on the school’s Science
Olympiad Team. Daily building challenges
include a tin can race, pasta mobile and
barge building, along with 25-question
knowledge tests on anatomy and astronomy.
All scores were combined, and with the
top 15 contestants secured a coveted place
on the team, according to Principal Shehzad
Bhojani.
“We encouraged students to enter more
than one event during the trials to pre-
pare for the regional competition held next
spring,” he said.
“I want to be on the team because I love
science – especially space,” said fifth grader
Eric Yuan.
Students brought in 15 x 15 cm pieces of
aluminum foil for the barge building chal-
lenge held at lunchtime. The third through
fifth graders were given five minutes to mold
little boats and then took turns launch-
ing them in a tub of water. The children counted out loud as they gingerly added a
cargo of metal washers one piece at a time.
Most youngsters reached 20-30, and a
few topped 40 pieces of the quarter-sized
rounds before the vessels sank. Parent vol-
unteers were on hand to verify tallies and
dry off cargo pieces.
Students rehearsed making barges at
home and shared their strategies while wait-
ing to compete.
“I practiced with quarters and pennies,”
said fourth grader Elonzo Motus.
“If the cargo is heavy, make the sides
higher,” said fifth grader Fiona Li. “It was
fun being on the team last year - the barge
building was my favorite competition.”
The children also utilized different tech-
niques as they added washers to the floating
pieces of foil. Some placed them evenly
starting in the corners and others stacked
them in neat rows.
Most of the barges were square or round,
while two students crafted unique shapes.
“Mine looks like a tiny row boat,” said
JOEY Bevlee Doran said. “I knew she had a brace
sometimes. But it just never slows her
down.”
Joey admits her battle with cerebral palsy
has made her more empathetic to students
who may be perceived differently than the
rest of the class.
“When I see people who are making fun
of other kids, I get sad because that would
sometimes be me,” Joey said. “Sometimes
they would look at me. ‘What are you
wearing? Why do you have those on your
feet?’ And I would just explain to them why.
When I see other people like that who are
different, I just make sure I’m nice to them
and make them feel that they aren’t differ-
ent in a bad way. They’re different in a good
way.”
When Joey entered Sakamoto
Elementary in the fall of 2016, she had no
Continued from page 1
“Since she was first diagnosed, I knew
she was just going to be a fighter,” Joey’s
mom Lottie Drake said. “She never slowed
down. Everything was a little bit delayed
as far as the developmental milestones go.
But she met each one with a smile and hard
work.”
With intense physical therapy, Joey
quickly surpassed expectations. Initially, she
struggled to use her right hand and needed
leg braces for walking. She still needs her
braces for playing sports. But outside of
that, you would never know of her struggle.
“I didn’t realize that she had cerebral
palsy until her mom mentioned it at con-
ferences,” Sakamoto Elementary teacher
C.J. Morris Elementary students compete in a barge building challenge during the Science Olympiad.
third grader Amelia Gonzalez.
Third grader Analise Silva Jameson cre-
ated a heart-shaped entry for the competi- tion.
“When I was practicing it was the best
one I had,” she said.
clue what was next in store for her and her
family. Joey’s mom, Lottie, had been diag-
nosed with stage 3C breast cancer.
“She’s always been the light of the fam-
ily,” Joey said. “And just to watch that light
slowly fade away, it was really hard to just
watch your mom just go through that.”
Lottie went through a year of chemo-
therapy along with a double mastectomy.
Through it all, Joey was by her mom’s side.
“She was amazing,” Lottie said. “She was
always kind of an old soul. But this stepped
it up a notch. Lots of notches actually. She
had to deal with something pretty serious.”
The Drake family credits the staff at
Sakamoto Elementary for helping them
through such a difficult time. Joey’s fourth
grade teacher, Madeline Marshall, says the
family-like atmosphere allowed Joey to cope
with her mother’s battle with cancer. “There was definitely a really strong
sense of community,” Marshall said. “And
Joey was at the heart of it. I hoped that
helped her get through a really hard year.
And I kind of think it did.”
Lottie Drake is now in remission and
the Drake family has a sense of normalcy.
The uber-talented Joey is back to her busy
schedule, participating in athletics, music
and theater. She says the adversity she and
her family faced forced her to look at life in
a new way.
“It’s made me and I think my whole
family more grateful for what we have,” Joey
said. “What (my mother) has is survival.
We have more hope for things that will
come. And we will be able to live life to the
fullest.”
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