EHS experienced first-place success at the regional Worldwide Youth in the Science and Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge on Feb. 3: the first victory of a three-competition-long season.

The WYSE Academic Challenge is a series of test competitions hosted by University of Illinois in which Illinois and Missouri students participate in.

At EHS, teachers from various departments choose students to compete in seven test categories: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics and physics. The group of students are then given several packets of study material and are left to decide for themselves how little or much to prepare for the competition.

A year younger than the rest of his teammates, sophomore Kolten Ackerman thought of his age difference as only a minor setback in Friday’s competition.

“I may not have had as much schooling, but I’ve been in the same classes with my teammates all year long,” Ackerman said. “I was probably in the same boat they were.”

Ackerman placed third in both the biology and chemistry categories.

Senior Ian Klein competed in the math and physics categories and received second place on both tests. He said that not taking the competition too seriously aided his performance.

“The more nervous you get while taking the test the quicker time passes, so I just tried to have fun,” Klein said.

Senior Taylor Mateyka returned to the competition this year, placing fourth in chemistry and second in biology. Looking backto the English test she took last year, Mateyka is thankful that her tests this year were both in science categories.

“Most people would think that the science tests are the hardest because of the memorization involved,” Mateyka said.  “Maybe it’s just because I’m more science-inclined, but I felt that the English test was by far the hardest test I’ve taken in WYSE.”

With regionals completed, EHS is looking forward to the sectionals competition in March where WYSE sponsor Julia Doll hopes for an advancement to the state competition.

“I know what these kids are capable of,” Mrs. Doll said. “As long as they work as hard as they can, they’ll do great things.”