Often overlooked at the High School, various extracurricular activities have brought great interest to students. Science Olympiad, robotics, and Quiz Bowl are some of these groups.

Science Olympiad is similar to what one may consider an academic track meet. It has twenty-three team events and separate divisions. Each year, groups of these events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, engineering, and technology. 

“There are many different individual events, some are build events, test events, and hands-on events. We all get to pick our events and then compete in those events specifically,” Delilah Scott ‘26 said.

Students choose from a variety of events, deciding what they are most interested in. The team hopes to inspire students in STEM by solving problems while both studying and building. 

This year, Dr. Tom Fox joined the Science Olympiad team. Fox looks forward to the competitions and spending time with the students.

“I love getting to see kids doing what they enjoy. They genuinely love science and want to practice science and challenge themselves in the sciences,” Fox said. 

The club is open to anyone interested. If the club sounds appealing, contact either Dr. Fox or Mr. Kapolka, or come to their Thursday after-school meetings. 

The robotics team is another great and hardworking club at the high school. The robotics team is highly competitive as they compete in the Michigan District Championships. East Grand Rapids recognizes the club as a varsity sport, as they endeavor to continue to represent the school with the tradition of excellence. The robotics team also works to inspire students in STEM and robotics by solving various problems. 

“Every year, we build a robot that participates in a challenge. For the challenge this year, we have to pick up rings and shoot them into a box,” Audrey Krajewski ‘25 said. 

They have both a build team and a prototype team that designs the robot, along with the coding aspect of the build. 

Additionally, the team does all of their own fundraising, gathering $14k just this year. The club has many different sponsorships and organizations that they rely on. The team is also given $5k a year from the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation to pay for their competition fees. The robotics program has 27 different teams at the elementary level, as well as three different teams at the middle school level. 

There are a lot of aspects about robotics that many don’t realize. For example, Krajewski has worked to organize Zoom calls with robotics teams in other countries. The team talked with foreign robotics teams in Greece, Nigeria, and Mexico. This was a great experience for them to gain new thinking from students all around the globe. 

The club meets every week Monday through Thursday from seven to nine p.m. Sometimes, they will even have eight-hour practices on Saturdays. If you are interested in joining the robotics team, you can join by coming to any of the practices. 

Another academic team at the high school is Quiz Bowl. Quiz Bowl is a competition where four students from one school compete against another four students from another school in a Jeopardy-like competition. The students from Mr. VanderBee’s classroom assemble to compete in some of the most academically challenging events. 

“Right now we are working on conferences. We’ve been meeting every Wednesday for six weeks to get ready to compete against other schools,” Jan Timek ‘25 said. 

Their hard work is reflected in their successes, resulting in a very successful season. Despite having some unfortunate losses, as well as ups and downs along the way, the team continues to work hard and show their interest in academics. 

Joining Quiz Bowl has allowed the students to show their love for academics and what they are capable of through their competitions. They currently meet every Wednesday after school. 

These academic teams have helped to maintain East Grand Rapids’ “tradition of excellence” and expose students to different fields in STEM. These teams have transformed the youth of the high school into academic warriors.