Reported by:
Louise Kaien Too Sr2ScC

On September 9th, 2023, while most students were busy running their stalls and relishing the festive spirit with the school’s charity bazaar, 16 students embarked on a unique path at noon. They were participating in the IMU Science Discovery Challenge 2023’s Grand Finale, a prestigious event that drew 4,800 participants from various schools, where only a mere 200 made it to the Grand Final round.

The Grand Finale was held digitally via Zoom and the Kahoot Application. It consisted of 30 multiple-choice questions (MCQs). The top 15 participants in each category stood a chance to win cash prizes and certificates of achievement. The final competition was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session catered to pre-university levels, running from 9:40 to 11:00 a.m., while the afternoon session was dedicated to the school level, scheduled from 11:40 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Each session started with participant registration. Participants were required to modify their names to include their participant code and personal information while also enabling their cameras. Subsequently, the event’s host elaborated on the rules, ensuring that all participants were well-versed in them, as violations could lead to disqualification. To acquaint participants with the Kahoot platform and fine-tune their network connections, a Kahoot test run was conducted.

Host explaining the rule to participants

The host showing the result of the test run

After completing the test run, the Final officially began. Each category’s participants were engrossed in answering the questions, with the entire process taking an hour of intense concentration. The eagerly anticipated results were unveiled via a live broadcast on the IMU Science Discovery Challenge’s Facebook Page, at 2:30 p.m. on the same day, adding a layer of excitement and suspense to this intellectually stimulating competition.

Participants answering the question

Host showing the initial winner

In the end, three participants earned their place in this challenge and will be announced to the whole school soon. As for the others, while slightly disappointed, they gained valuable experiences from this intense competition, propelling them forward on their journeys.