Massey class among best in biology
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2016 (3584 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Three Vincent Massey High School students have emerged from the realm of alleles and genetic mutations as the top one and two per cent of biology students in the nation.
Each year, the high school’s AP biology class writes the University of Toronto’s National Biology Competition test to prepare for other exams. In addition to receiving an individual score, students with the top five marks constitute a team entry.
Of the 16 Massey students who participated this year, the top five all placed within the top 10 per cent. Vincent Massey’s team placed ninth of 211 teams, from 263 competing schools across Canada.
“It was always like, oh, (the exam) is coming, but it’s not here yet — and then it came, and I was like, oh no!” laughed Jessica Li, who scored at the top of the 98th percentile.
“I kind of miss it,” she said.
Most students in the Advanced Placement program begin it with the knowledge that they’ll one day write the test. The school has taken part since 2006, and placed fourth in the competition last year.
The students’ biology teacher, Lindsay Metruk, said 2015’s success made some of the students nervous.
She, on the other hand, knew differently.
“You kind of have an idea of how the crew will do, just based on their enthusiasm for the topic and their tests and such throughout the semester, and this is a really bright group,” Metruk said. “(They are) very keen to learn, really love the topics we’ve been addressing, so I knew it would be a good year.”
Along with Li, students Daniel Lysack and Emma Doerksen were recognized for their test scores. Like Li, Doerksen scored in the top two per cent of roughly 3,200 Canadian students. Both girls received a certificate for National Biology Scholar.
Lysack, who tested in the 99th percentile, was awarded a National Biology Scholar with Distinction and $50.
Lysack “didn’t specifically study for (the exam),” but rather used it as an opportunity to study for the class final and AP College Board Exam, which could earn the students a credit or spare at a post-secondary institution.
But for these students, explaining the oxidization of carbon molecules in glucose during lactic acid fermentation is easier than talking about their futures.
Only heading into the summer of their Grade 12 year, some of the students are interested in pursuing careers in the science field but don’t yet know where.
“Maybe we’ll go to U of T,” one student joked.
» aantoneshyn@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @AAntoneshyn