![Wayland Historical Society Executive Director Scarlett Hoey explains the history of the Cochituate Gatehouse.
"The exterior is still a nice monument to remember buildings [involved in] water history," Hoey said. "We all drink lots of water, and it's such an important resource that we kind of take for granted nowadays."](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_2024-1200x800.jpg)
In late October, the Science Team announced the formation of the Wayland Biology Olympiad Team, led by senior Loui Takahashi. The group is separate from the Science Team and is geared toward students who excel in biology and want to deepen their knowledge beyond the classroom.
After Takahashi learned about the Biolympiad and realized the school competes in an annual international chemistry exam but not this test, she wanted to get the school involved. She founded a team to compete in the biology-focused national exam, providing students an outlet to demonstrate their knowledge in a more competitive setting.
Starting the Biology Olympiad team took about a month, and the proposal first had to be approved by Science Department Head Bill Bobrowsky. There were some challenges in the process of getting the new team started. It took planning, time and effort to make the team happen.
“We had a little bit of a confusion with the payment and figuring out how much each student would contribute,” Takahashi said. “Also making sure teachers were okay with it and knew what it was.”
Students on the team will represent Wayland High School in the National Biolympiad, a series of challenging exams that tests students’ knowledge of biology. The team began practice on Wednesday, Nov. 26th. During team meetings, students review material, work in groups and prepare for material that will be on the exams. The first online exam takes place on Feb. 4. Students who advance will take the semifinal exam on March 4, with finalists competing on April 13.
The first exam is a 50-minute online multiple-choice test open to any high school biology student.TThe semifinal exam lasts 120 minutes and includes three sections: multiple choice, true-false and short-answer or essay questions. The questions are advanced and designed to challenge students’ preparation. Students who score in the top 10% advance to the semifinal exam.
“[The most challenging part of preparing for the exams is] learning the stuff that was not covered in honors biology,” junior Jonathan Yu said.
While the school enters as a team, students take the exams individually. The top four finalists have the opportunity to represent the United States in the International Biology Olympiad. Finalists are also invited to a residential training program at the USA Bio Olympiad National Finals, where they study advanced biology and practice lab skills.
Team members can get additional exposure to biology and study topics they may not cover in class. The program offers students interested in biology a chance to build their science skills while competing and demonstrating what they’ve learned.
