Sir Alexander Mackenzie students are riding high after a stellar showing at the Owlypia. The Owlypia is an international competition (part of the The Intellectuals’ Challenge) that hosts just under 1,000 students from 37 different countries in an intense competition every year. Of the thousand competitors, only the top 15 percent receive gold.
It’s an international platform for students aged 9-11 (Owlins), 12-14 (Owlets) and 15-18 (Owlys) where they are encouraged to think, write, discuss and enjoy! The aim is to challenge your intellectual limits, and this is the spirit of Owlypia. It aims to inspire intellectual curiosity and develop research skills and academic confidence in young minds.
Owlypia consists of online tests for everyone, 2-day local events in different countries and 4-day global events at the most prestigious institutions around the world.
The SAMS team swept their category this year; all six participants received awards, one silver, and the remaining five all gold! Perhaps even more impressively, to keep the school team united, the six participants from grades eight through twelve, all competed in the same category for students aged 15-18. Two of our recipients were younger than their competition!
Our school’s success is directly attributable to the hard work of our new science-teacher, Halim Demir (pictured left, holding Grace’s certificate). Mr. Demir has worked with students on international academic challenges before, but this year was a little different because the competitions have all been online.
Undaunted, Mr. Demir and his group of academic achievers prepared for this rigorous challenge with extra study sessions in person and online. The school is very proud of these students (pictured, left to right): Halim Demir (holding Grace Valdez’ gold certificate); Lauren McIlwain, Shayleen Mack, Jaymen Schieck, Kyle Doiron, and Finn Carlson.
