St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy holds its 10th annual STEM Olympics

A Bay Ridge school is showing its spirit of friendly competition, learning and fun.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy, 401 97th St., hosted its 10th Annual STEM Olympics Jan. 29.

The friendly competition helped kick off Catholic Schools Week. 

Students from grades six through eight were placed in mixed teams to work together in a timed obstacle course of science and math problems.

Winners were crowned with a gold medal.

This year’s stations were called Stack It, Reverse Escape Room, The Chain Gang, and Your Body is a Temple. Each one gave students the challenge to solve complex STEM problems.

“St. Pat’s motto is ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ and the STEM Olympics is the perfect example of this where students used skills they have learned and had fun,” Principal Kathy Curatolo told this paper. “This year was our 10th Anniversary of the STEM Olympics, and it gets better each and every year.”

The challenges included building structures to a certain height while using wobbly materials, and a timed math quiz that led to a lock box with word puzzles inside it. There was also a physical race.

“We have been fine-tuning this competition for years, and this year we have come up with some really great obstacles for our students,” said Curatolo. “They always love this competition, and the younger students enjoy coming to the gym to cheer on the teams. Our students learn problem-solving under pressure and how to work together through this game.”

Last year, the students had to figure out the best position on a low scooter for maximum speed in a relay race.