Rustin High School’s Science Olympiad Team will once again compete in the National Science Olympiad Tournament, according to a report from the Daily Local News.

The 35th annual national competition will be held from May 29 through June 1 at Cornell University. Rustin is one of 60 high schools nationwide to qualify for the national tournament. This is the team’s fifth appearance.

Science Olympiad focuses on enhancing student education in the STEM fields. Competitions start at the local level and advance to the national competition. Each competition features 23 team events with topics that include astronomy, invasive species, wind power, and chemistry.

Rustin qualified for the nationals by placing third at regionals, winning medals in 17 of the 23 events, and by placing second at states, medaling in 16 of the 23 events.

But winning truly takes a team effort, according to head coach Jaime Suarez.

“Individually, students can medal in their events, but in order for the team to do well, all 23 events have to do well,” said Suarez.

He said that upperclassmen on his team go out of their way to work with the underclassmen to strengthen the team.

Read more about Rustin’s Olympiad Team in the Daily Local News here.