Notre Dame College science majors are sharing their expertise with the next generation of STEMM scholars.
The College students served as volunteers at the 14th annual Catholic Elementary Science Olympiad to help foster a love for science among youth. The contest is for students in grades 4, 5 and 6 who are enrolled in a Catholic school in the Cleveland area.
David E. Orosz, Ph.D., provost and dean of faculty, professor of biochemistry and Marie Goetz Geier Distinguished Profess of STEM at the College, has volunteered with a group of Notre Dame students every year since 2009. The Science Olympiad was founded in 2008 and did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I could not have been more proud of how our students interacted with the kids in representing Notre Dame College,” Orosz said. “Our students certainly outwardly represented our Notre Dame College mission.”
The College once again sponsored the Mystery Powders event at the Olympiad. In the Mystery Powders event, elementary school students work to identify unknown samples of white solids by performing a series of qualitative tests and deduction. The possible white solids are table salt (sodium chloride), baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), granular sugar, powdered sugar, corn starch, plaster of Paris and flour.
Joining Orosz as judges for the competition this year were Notre Dame science students Megan Jackson, Jordi Markovic, Emily Marsh, Emma Martcheva, Theresa Parr, Josephine Sharp, Morgan Sullivan and Alexis Torosian.
Markovic is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry and with the Honors Scholar distinction in 2022. Parr is earning a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and the Honors Scholar designation this year. Sullivan also graduates with a B.S. in biology.
Parr and Markovic both received the Outstanding Chemistry Undergraduate Award for 2022. Jackson won the Josie Pophal Women in Mathematics Scholarship. Jackson and Sharp earned the O’Neill Science Endowment Scholarship in chemistry this year. Marsh, Martcheva and Torosian received the O’Neill Science Endowment Scholarship for biology majors in 2022.
The annual Science Olympiad takes place each spring at John Carroll University.
April 2022
About Notre Dame College
Notre Dame College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts college in South Euclid, Ohio, committed to teaching students how to make a good living and live a good life. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. For more information, visit NotreDameCollege.edu.