UW-River Falls hosts 800 high school students for Science Olympiad Border Battle

RIVER FALLS – Braving frigid temperatures, around 800 students from 31 high schools across Wisconsin and Minnesota gathered at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday to flex their mental muscles and compete in the Science Olympiad Border Battle.

While the extreme cold kept some of the most distant schools from attending, some of which travel from as far away as North Dakota, the event’s director, UWRF Chemistry Professor Jamie Schneider, was happy to see a busy, bustling event as students competed in 28 separate activities using nearly every building on campus.

“I love the energy, I love the enthusiasm,” Schneider said. “They’re competitive, but it’s about learning. Sometimes people think Science Olympiad is just all these kids that just want to do science, but for a lot of them, it’s about being part of a team.”...