Whiz Kids: Seaholm Students Named Biology Olympiad Semifinalists

Every week, Patch spotlights young people in the Birmingham community who are successful, talented and just plain awesome. We're pleased to introduce this week's Whiz Kids:

Natalie Collins, Zoe Gaber, Matt Isaacs and Paul Myers

• Age: seniors
• School:
• Achievement: Becoming semifinalists in the USA Biology Olympiad competition, a worldwide competition that pits the best of the best biology students against each other for a chance to represent the United States at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Taiwan.
• Key to awesomeness: All four first had to score high enough on a 50-question biology exam to be named semifinalists. They are awaiting their scores from the exam that determines which 20 American high school students will be named finalists, a test the four completed Friday. The finalists will be announced April 15.
  
  Finalists are invited to the national finals at Purdue University June 6-19, a residential training program where they learn advanced biological concepts and exacting lab skills. Ultimately, the top four students with the best theoretical and practical scores are selected to move on to the IBO where more than 60 countries are represented.

Do you know a special student in the community who deserves a round of applause because he or she volunteers instead of playing video games after school? Or maybe your daughter's science club is trying to challenge the way we think about the energy crisis? Or maybe your son's lacrosse team won its first game in three years? Everyone deserves a little attention, and we want to tell these stories.

So email your Whiz Kid nominations to Editor Laura Houser at laura.houser@patch.com, fill out the information given above and include a photo with names and ages. Then, come back every Wednesday for our Whiz Kid spotlight; you never know who will be up next.