Blog
Ohio You Be the Chemist Champ Nearly Goes the Distance
June 24, 2016
Picture (L-R): Sam Kwedder, Tom Schlomi, Sam Metzger, and Charlie Laurie
On Monday, June 20, 2016, 39 participants from around the country made their way to the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia to compete in the 2016 You Be the Chemist National Challenge.
The field was comprised of middle school students from 39 states, including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, who won their respective state qualifiers to advance to the National Challenge.
This year was Palmer Holland’s fourth year organizing the northeast Ohio local qualifier. We were represented in Philadelphia by our Ohio champion, Tom Schlomi, and represent he did!
After 11 increasingly difficult rounds, Tom finished in 2nd place after losing by a single question in a Championship Tiebreaker Round to 13-year-old Jevin Liu.
Along with 2nd place, Tom earned a $5,000 educational scholarship, TI-84 Plus Calculator, National Park Annual Pass, and a chemistry set. Congratulations to Tom, his family, and all the participants in the 2016 National Challenge!