Elementary School Academic 'Olympians' Rewarded With More Than Just Medals

Not many fifth graders can claim to hold "Olympic" medals but in Livermore, a handful of local students are proudly sporting bronze, silver and gold this week after participating in a unique competition held to celebrate knowledge while foraging new friendships.  

Fifth graders from Rancho Las Positas and Marilyn Avenue School gathered at Junction K-8 in Livermore on Wednesday to compete in academics, meet other students and lay the foundation for new friendships with the children they will be spending time with as sixth graders. 

"The 'Academic Olympics 5' event is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate outstanding academic achievement for fifth graders," Junction Avenue K8 Vice Principal Dayna Taylor said.

Taylor says the students worked together as teams, comprised of one student per school, to compete in the subjects of math and science. According to Taylor, parents and teachers worked to make the Olympics a reality. 

The event was attended by Mayor John Marchand and Superintendent Kelly Bowers. Every student who participated earned a certificate, and the top three teams for math and science received gold, silver or bronze medals.

Here's a full list of the winners:

• Math: Bronze Winners: Staicy Robles, Kaleigh Bolar & Diana Godinez
• Math Silver: Fallon Frisby, Kenji Ramsell & Edwin Zabala
• Math Gold Winners: Cobly Cairel, Austin Statham & Sammy Flores
• Bronze in Science: Luis Torres, Grace Boyds & Alyssa Seibel
• Silver: Tyson Beaired, Anna Willey & Anthony Molleson
• Science: Gold: Staicy Robles,, Jasmine Padilla & Dafne Rivero