Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center
| Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center | |
|---|---|
| State |  Pennsylvania
|
| Region | Northeast Pennsylvania |
| Map | |
| Information | |
| Member of SO since | 2000 |
| Feeds to | Greater Nanticoke Area High School |
| Results History | |
| Best regional | 1st, 2009 |
| Best state | 4th, 2010 |
| Best nationals | Never qualified |
Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center (GNA for short) is a middle school in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania that competed in Division B. They competed in the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional. In the late 2000s, they had a run of high finishes at the Pennsylvania state competition.
GNA Educational Center feeds into Greater Nanticoke Area High School.
History
Nanticoke Junior High School
Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center is predated by Nanticoke Junior High School, which was a facility for 7th to 9th graders that sent a team to the first two Pennsylvania Science Olympiads in 1985 and 1986. By the 1988 season, Nanticoke Junior High had been converted to serve 6th to 8th graders, and was renamed Nanticoke Middle School. It is unlikely that the school's Science Olympiad team survived this transition.
Establishment of GNAEC
After the old middle school building was condemned, a new facility attached to the high school was built to serve 6th to 8th graders. The facility opened in the fall of 1999 and was renamed the "Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center" to distinguish it from the old building.
The school's first year of operation was also the first year in which they competed in Science Olympiad. In their fifth year, they qualified for states for the first time by placing 7th at regionals. Though they only placed 35th at states, they year proved to be a learning experience as they improved significantly to finish 10th at states in 2005. This began a 7-year streak where GNA qualified for states every year.
Peak and Decline
GNA's best years came in 2009 and 2010. 2009 was GNA's first and only regional championship, and they proceeded to achieve their first top-5 finish at the 2009 Pennsylvania State Tournament. Though they fell to 5th at regionals in 2010, they improved their states placement to 4th at the 2010 Pennsylvania State Tournament.
After 2010, however, GNA's results took a sharp downturn. They did not qualify for states in 2011 after placing 12th at regionals, and their regionals results would decline every year until 2014, which was their final year of competition. After the 2014 season, the team was disbanded.
Results
| Year | Regionals | States |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 7th | 35th (591) |
| 2005 | 6th | 10th (378) |
| 2006 | 6th | 16th (415) |
| 2007 | 2nd | |
| 2008 | 3rd | 10th (336) |
| 2009 | 1st | 5th (307) |
| 2010 | 5th (162) | 4th (317) |
| 2011 | 12th (245) | - |
| 2012 | 16th (337) | - |
| 2013 | 18th (420) | - |
| 2014 | 20th (423) | - |