On Tuesday, April 25, 20 (four competitors and one alternate) students from the four middle schools in Cranston competed for a chance to go to the “You be the Chemist” finals in Washington, D.C. on June 19.

The students participated in a pre-qualifying test in order to compete at the contest night. The school-based qualifier was open to all students, and those who received the top five scores were invited to participate.

According to Steve Scappaticci, science program supervisor for Cranston, students all over the country were taking the same challenge test. The questions were developed by the CEF.

“You Be the Chemist” was created in 2004 by the Chemical Educational Foundation (CEF), a national non-profit organization. The program is designed to engage fifth- through eighth-grade students in the STEM subject – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – at an earlier age, in order to create a better informed general public and increase the number of students who are prepared to pursue STEM-related careers. Competitions are carried out at the local, state, and national levels, and are sponsored by companies in the chemical industry and community organizations.

Scappaticci, an eighth-grade science teacher at Western Hills Middle School, is the “You Be the Chemist” organizer for the state.

Cranston once again is the only district in Rhode Island participating in the competition.

From Bain, the participants were Ivan Abreu and Sarah Sprague.

Hope Highlands was represented by Robert DiScuillo, Serena Leung, Benjamin McDade, Zack Reed and alternate Sanjana Ananthula.

Park View student competitors were Will Hardy, Sophie Smyth, Sophia Tomaselli, Declan Tevyaw and alternate Alex Handy.

The Western Hills contingency was composed of Christina Charie, Liandro Feliz, Isaiah Fernandez, Sam Latzman and alternate Zachary Martins.

Even though she was unable to attend, Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse sent her regards.

“I am proud and encouraged to see the interest in science that our students have, especially in chemistry. I appreciate the work of our teachers and students who make these events and opportunities possible,” she said.

The students were seated in the auditorium spaced apart and given response buzzers. As the questions were read off the screen in the auditorium the students had 10 seconds to enter their answers.

After two rounds of 12 questions, the participants dropped from 16 to four. 

The final four were from Western Hills Charie, Feliz and from Park View Hardy and Tomaselli.

The semifinal round had five questions, and eventually led to a tiebreaker.

After the tiebreaker round, the two finalists were the Park View participants, Will Hardy and Sophia Tomaselli.

Hardy, who ironically came in second place last year, got his win and is heading to D.C. with his science teacher, Robb Rasmussen.

As for preparing for the competition, Rasmussen was not putting a lot of pressure on Will.

“There is a study guide published online that is fairly daunting. Will has taken it upon himself to research some topics. He has found that YouTube has tremendous resources for just about everything, including electron configuration, one of the most difficult topics in the competition,” said Rasmussen. 

The judges this year were all middle school science teachers in the district: Kelsey Heim, Hope Highlands; Michael Romano Bain; Leslie Lefebvre, Park View; and Dawn Lancellotti Western Hills.

The moderator was Joanne Vincent, a Western Hills science teacher.

“As far as the school-based coordinators and coaches, the entire science department at each building contributed in some way helping students prepare,” said Scappaticci.