Montrose School Science Stars Place 4th in MIT Competition

Medfield's Mavericks were one of 17 teams competing in the Science Trivia Challenge, sponsored by Math Works, at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard.

Six Montrose students – Camille Corre of Medway, Grace Schiller of Holliston, Kelsey Gallagher of Weymouth, Maggie James of Dedham, Laura Bergemann of Westwood and Kaitlyn Sennott of Sherborn – went up against teams from high schools all over the Commonwealth.

After competing in the preliminary round, the Mavs advanced to the silver round as one of the top scoring teams. They placed second in the Silver Division, missing the win by only one point. In a first for Montrose, the mighty Mavs placed fourth in the overall competition.

The evening, which took place on April 25, involved a group competition, including questions from the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and earth science. The event was moderated by the world-renowned physicist from the Netherlands, Walter H.G. Lewin.

This is the fourth year Montrose has competed at this challenge, and this year, they took home their best placement yet. Following the competition, the team was called up on stage to accept recognition and their prize. Students each received tickets to the Museum of Science in Boston.

Montrose does not have an official science trivia team that practices and competes regularly in contests throughout the year. Instead, Montrosians passionate about science came together through their shared interest in science to take on the 17 trivia teams of larger schools at the MIT competition.

Equipped with what they have learned in their physics, biology and chemistry classrooms, they were just as competitive as the more established and “practiced” teams.  

“As a school facing much larger schools with regularly competing trivia teams, it was great to see our talented girls compete so well using only their classroom knowledge,” said science faculty Heather Osborne.

Comprised of two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen, Montrose representation at the annual MIT Science Trivia challenge will certainly be strong in the years to come. According to the girls, they are already excited for next year.

“The students enjoyed learning and had a great attitude about the competition.  I was very proud of them,” said Osborne. 

Montrose is an independent, college preparatory day school with a Catholic tradition, for girls in grades 6-12. Located on 14 acres in the heart of Medfield, Montrose serves young women from over 45 towns throughout the Metro West and South Shore as well as international students from all over the world.

For more information, visit MontroseSchool.org.