Jacksonville STEM students prepare for national competition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Local students won the opportunity to represent Florida in a national academic tournament in Colorado next month. 
River City Science Academy is a group of four STEM-focused public schools in Jacksonville. 

RCSA's middle school’s Science Olympiad team are comprised of  seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade students. 

The team competed in the Science Olympiad, which is a national competition in Central Florida. There, students competed in small teams in 23 events in several science fields. The competitive events included lab-based, research based and a prebuilt engineering categories. 

RCSA’s students won the state championship ,beating 42 other top teams.

As the state champion, RCSA will represent Florida at the national tournament in Fort Collins, Colorado, May 19. The team will compete against the best of the best from across the country.

RCSA is the first school from Duval County to win the state championship.

In an effort to make this trip happen, RCSA is fundraising to support the students’ journey to nationals.

The entire cost of airfare for 15 students and coaches, accommodations and materials are costly. RCSA is asking Jacksonville’s community to contribute to its efforts. 

RCSA has set up a GoFundMe account for individuals who would like to contribute to the students' dreams of winning the national championship.