In the midst of competition season Science Olympiad students train weekly, not just striving for medals but also shaping the next team entering Portola High.
In 2024, sophomore Ansh Gosain founded MentoScio, an organization in which mentors of different science backgrounds teach elementary and middle school students a variety of Science Olympiad events. Starting his journey in Science Olympiad at Sierra Vista Middle School, this experience shaped his life in many ways, especially his character.
“The idea of MentoScio came to life last year, around April,” Gosain said. “We were waiting for Nationals, and I was just thinking that was my last season with Sierra Vista. So now that I wasn’t going to be able to help my middle school team anymore, I was brainstorming ways how I can still be a part of the Science Olympiad community at Sierra Vista.”
Gosain emphasizes his passion for Science Olympiad through his organization as he began offering summer camps last year. MentoScio offers three-week classes throughout the summer where students can participate in practice events and tests to prepare themselves for the upcoming school year, according to Gosain.
“Specifically, Sierra Vista, Science Olympiad has been such a huge part of my life,” Gosain said. “It has shaped who I am right now, not just through knowledge but the people I’ve met along the way— the social networking that I’ve done, the life lessons I’ve learned, not just science related but life lessons that I’ll carry with me.”
Similarly, freshman Smriti Mishra found her passion for Science Olympiad at Jeffrey Trail Middle School, fueling her to leave a legacy behind her at both Woodbury Elementary and Jeffrey Trail Middle School. She mentors students at Jeffrey Trail by visiting the school a few times a month and goes to Woodbury Elementary as the head coach multiple times a week. She explains content and goes over practice events to help the students get a feel for the competitions.
“This has helped me because when I was a student in Science Olympiad, I really wish I had that guidance, like a mentor, someone to help me,” Mishra said. “I really wanted to help other kids so that they can improve in their events, and they can medal as well in competitions.”
Senior Atharva Patil began competing six years ago on the Jeffrey Trail Middle School Science Olympiad team, heavily focusing on engineering events after encouragement from his father to join. Patil now mentors students at Sierra Vista Middle School after his former middle school coach moved to the school and reached out to him. Patil was able to push his students to achieve their goal of attending Nationals.
“My goal has always been to just help Science Olympiad teams and help more kids join Science Olympiad because it’s just a great competition,” Patil said. “It’s fun, it’s engineering, it’s a good culture to be a part of.”
