Leadership & Contact

Contact

You can contact the TJSO Officer Corps at tjhsstscio@gmail.com.

You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Sponsors

• Mrs. Aubrie Holman
  

  Mrs. Aubrie Holman has been coaching TJSO for 12 years. Her favorite events are Cell Biology and Designer Genes, but most of all she loves working with the leadership team to help them build the capacity to run the team with efficiency and integrity. More than anything, Mrs. Holman wants TJSO to be a place where students work hard, explore new interests, and feel a deep sense of community. Outside of TJSO, Mrs. Holman is mom to one 5-year old budding scientist, wife to a Cooper MS teacher, and is likely to be found sewing, knitting, or teaching Jazzercise.

• Mrs. Samantha Hale
  

  Mrs. Samantha Hale has been coaching Science Olympiad since 2013. She started with Division B at Cooper Middle School, building a legacy of champions. In 2023, Mrs. Hale started teaching biology and coaching Division C at TJHSST and was immediately impressed by the team’s community and dedication to excellence. Outside of school, Mrs. Hale is a parent of a middle schooler, a high schooler, two cats and an African Grey Parrot. She is an avid fan of the Capitols hockey and the Nationals baseball teams.

Officers

• Jennifer Zhang, Co-Captain
  

  Jennifer has been competing in Science Olympiad for 7 years now. Before being Co-Captain, she served as the team’s Communications Secretary. Her favorite event is Anatomy and Physiology, but she also enjoys dabbling in build events (EV). She vividly remembers the Nats swap meet where many goods were acquired, as well as playing card games and volleyball with the team. Furthermore, she is known for being a strong proponent of tournament day bubble tea runs. Outside of school, she spends time conducting research, playing piano, baking successful cakes and failed sourdough loaves, and training her younger brother to become a D1 soccer player.

• Tayne Han, Co-Captain
  

  Tayne has competed in Science Olympiad since 8th grade (so this is his 5th year). Prior to being Co-Captain, he served as the team’s Head of IT. He is particularly fond of Astronomy, Rocks and Minerals, Dynamic Planet, and It’s About Time. He has a strong interest in all STEM subjects (especially physics, astronomy, and math), as well as geography and election analysis, and is a part of TJ’s Cross Country and Astronomy Competition Team. Outside of Science Olympiad, Tayne likes to draw maps, create imaginary countries, read textbooks of random academic subjects very briefly, and learn languages (badly).

• Jack Gao, Communications Secretary
  

  Jack is a junior and has been a part of Science Olympiad for 6 years. His favorite event is Dynamic Planet (Oceanography). However, he has recently become more interested in all things earth science and also Materials Science. Before being Communications Secretary, he was known for falling down stairs at all the tournaments and for making questionable last-minute studying decisions. Outside of TJSO, he is part of TJXCTF and some other things he hasn’t bothered to write down.

• Ellie Wen, Publicist
  

  Ellie has participated in Science Olympiad since 6th grade, making this year her 5th year as a competitor. She enjoys ID events like Forestry and Entomology as well as biology events but has dabbled in a bit of everything. Outside of Science Olympiad, Ellie spends her time in the lab, playing tennis, practicing violin, writing a mix of lengthy essays and tiny poems, and book shopping (she’s spent an unhealthy amount of money at Barnes & Noble).

• Laura Prudius, Event Director
  

  Laura is a sophomore, and she’s been in Science Olympiad since 6th grade. She really enjoys build events and she’s really interested in engineering, CAD, and coding. Her favorite events from Division C have been Electric Vehicle and Robot Tour, but she also competed in Bridge and Wheeled Vehicle in Division B. As for study events, she has some room for improvement, but she really enjoys physics events like Wind Power, and Sounds of Music back in middle school. She’s really excited for the new events Circuit Lab and Machines and is ready to start studying. Outside of Science Olympiad Laura is really big on swimming, and you’ll always catch her at the pool. She also enjoys music and instruments, playing french horn in the band, mellophone in the marching band, and guitar for fun.

• Brendan Li, Head of IT
  

  This is Brendan’s 6th year competing in Science Olympiad, and he is kind of obsessed with ID events. Here is his official ranking from most to least favorite: Entomology, Forestry, Ornithology, Fossils, and Rocks and Minerals. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet had the chance to compete in Herpetology or Invasive Species, but he’s sure he would love them just as much. Outside of Science Olympiad, Brendan enjoys painting surrealist artwork and building architectural models. He’s also a big fan of Pokémon games.

Officers’ Mission Statement

The officers’ mission statement is a set of principles that guide operations within the corps as well as how officers interact with each other and the community at large.

• Our ultimate mission is to serve the TJSO team. This goes far beyond individual prestige, and is our way to give back to the team that we love and that trusts us.
• TJSO represents TJHSST as a whole – as the team’s leaders, we display our best selves and inspire our teammates to do the same.
• We respect that our sponsors have the final say in our decisions.
• We are not afraid to ask questions.
• We are all in the process of learning, and questions can only help, not hurt.
• We are not afraid to reflect on our past mistakes and correct them.
• It is natural and okay to make mistakes. What is important is that we are mindful of our fallibility and do our best to right what has been wronged.
• We speak out when something feels wrong.
• When receiving a suggestion, we do not take it personally. Again, everyone makes mistakes – as teammates, we rely on each other to catch oversights.
• Transparency, integrity, and clear communication (both internally, to our team, and to the wider community) is key to all we do.
• We take care of our health (physical, mental, and spiritual) to sustainably serve our team, and support each other in doing so.
• Finally, we always respect each other – as teammates, co-officers, and wonderful fellow human beings.

Past Sponsors and Officer Teams