It has been an exciting week for the biology department at St. Andrew’s with results back on their remarkable student achievement in the University of Toronto 2014 National Biology Competition.
Of the 3,436 eligible contestants from schools within Canada, grade 12 students Will Pidduck and Peter Song finished in the top 1% at 16th and 21st place respectively. They were awarded a certificate for National Biology Scholars with Distinction and a $50 cash prize each.
“Mr. Galajda did an amazing job compiling study notes for this contest,” said Peter, who admittedly didn’t prepare for the test outside of class time. “I think that shows how effective Mr. Galajda was with his notes and preparing us in class.”
This year Peter has maintained a 98.6% average in biology, while classmate Will a 98.5%.
“The showing of our boys is a testament to the strength of our science program and in particular Mr. Galajda’s commitment to the senior biology program,” said Michael Paluch, Assistant Headmaster Academics. “We are very proud of the work of Will, Peter, and the entire class as this test is extremely challenging.”
Excitement continued to build over the week as more students were recognized. Amongst them were grade 12 students Geoffrey Wei (65th place), Peter Grantcharov (89th place), and Luke Simpson (149th place) who earned certificates as National Biology Scholars.
In previous years, the School’s highest ranking has been 8th, but as a team, the College came in third place out of 256 participating schools. Because of this, the College received a Certificate of Excellence from the University of Toronto Biology Competition.
“This is huge news for the biology department,” said Upper School science teacher David Galajda, who was thoroughly pleased to be spreading the great news. “These are truly impressive results.”
Story by Nicolette Fleming
