Cedar Girls’ Secondary School wins National STEM Championship 2026
What would you do if you were given 100 ice cream sticks, 30 skewers, two metres of string, and a handful of other basic materials, then tasked with building a miniature marine research structure in just 30 minutes?
Oh, and it had to feature an elevated research area, an access point for scientists, and a working safety light, while being sturdy enough to withstand a stress test.
That was the challenge facing the four finalist teams in the grand finale of ‘National STEM Championship: Game On’ (‘NSTEMC:GO’), a reality show-style contest produced by TheSmartLocal in collaboration with Science Centre Singapore that put secondary school students’ scientific knowledge, creativity, and problem-solving skills to the test.
For Cedar Girls’ Secondary School students Evakshi Sandeep, Xu Xinning, Everecia Mervelie Tjawinoto, and See Yee Teng Isabel, less really was more.
Rather than using everything at their disposal, the four 15-year-olds deliberately left some materials untouched. And while that might sound like a rather unorthodox strategy for a building challenge, their creation successfully supported 250g during the stress test.
“We tried to consider what it would be like in a real-life situation,” Ms Tjawinoto explained. “We wanted to use as few materials as possible because, in the real world, resources aren’t always readily available, and we might not have access to as many materials.”
That was only half the battle, though. Next came a rapid-fire STEM quiz, where the girls recovered from a shaky start to score crucial points.
Combined with their score from the building challenge, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School emerged as the overall ‘NSTEMC:GO’ champions, beating three other schools to the top spot in a contest that started with 48 teams.
Only hoped for third place, never imagined winning
The funny thing is, winning wasn’t something the girls had even considered in their wildest dreams.
When MS News caught up with them after their victory, they were still trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened.
“It definitely feels very surreal,” Ms Tjawinoto admitted. “We all cannot believe that we actually got first place.”
After all, they had entered the competition unsure whether they would even make it past the qualifying rounds.
As they progressed, their ambitions grew a little, though never quite as far as winning the whole thing. “Third place was good enough for us,” said Ms Xu.
In fact, when the final scores appeared on screen, the girls could hardly believe their eyes. Ms Tjawinoto initially thought the winning score belonged to another school, as the display looked different from where she was standing.
It took a moment for the news to sink in, but there was no mistake: Cedar Girls’ Secondary School had emerged victorious, with Victoria School taking second, the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (NUSH) third, and Catholic High School (Secondary) fourth.
For their impressive showing, the champions walked away with a custom keyboard-building workshop worth S$848, along with eight Escape @ Science Centre tickets.
Learning to work together, even when they disagreed
But hearing how the girls tackled the various challenges thrown their way throughout the competition, perhaps their victory wasn’t quite so surprising after all.
Thanks to their training in school, they had grown accustomed to thinking on their feet and “expecting the unexpected”. Thus, when they were faced with mystery challenges, they simply took them in their stride.
Ms Evakshi believes this adaptability, especially under pressure, was a big reason for their success.
“In the heat of the moment, we would come together as a team to work out a solution,” she said, adding that they would constantly bounce ideas off one another, rethink their plans, and adjust their strategies on the spot.
Of course, that didn’t mean they always saw eye to eye.
As Ms Tjawinoto pointed out, disagreements were inevitable, but they had learnt to listen to different perspectives, weigh the pros and cons, and reach a decision everyone could agree on.
They also knew how to play to one another’s strengths. During the finale’s building challenge, for instance, two members focused on constructing the prototype while the others worked on the presentation, before all four came together to complete the structure.
But beyond the strategies and teamwork, the girls also believed in simply giving it their all.
“We gave our best,” Ms Tjawinoto said. “That’s what matters.”
From watching STEM competitions on TV to becoming champions
For Ms Xu, the victory was especially meaningful, as she had grown up watching the competition on TV with her father.
As a young child, she would marvel at the contestants tackling difficult questions, thinking to herself: “That’s so cool, they’re all so smart!”
In fact, even as recently as last year, she recalled struggling to answer many of the questions herself. But when she reached Secondary 3, she figured there was no harm in giving it a shot.
Little did she know that she’d soon be standing in the shoes of the very contestants she used to admire, this time as a champion.
Ms Evakshi, meanwhile, had joined the competition somewhat more spontaneously.
After signing up for her school’s STEM Talent Development Programme, she was deciding which activity to pursue when a fellow student mentioned wanting to take part in the National STEM Championship.
That was enough to pique her interest, and she eventually decided to join in, too.
As for Ms See, who already has her sights set on a STEM-related career, the experience opened her eyes to even more possibilities.
Through the competition, the girls had the chance to visit different places and see how science and technology are applied beyond the classroom.
“I guess this competition has opened my mind to more opportunities that there may be in the future,” she shared.
And that experience reflects one of the key messages behind ‘NSTEMC:GO’: STEM goes far beyond textbooks and exams, with opportunities to apply what students have learnt to real-world challenges and discover where their interests might take them.
Advice for students hoping to follow in their footsteps
Having gone from hoping for third place to becoming champions, the girls have a rather encouraging message for other students thinking of joining the competition.
“Be optimistic, just give your best, and you will never know what will happen in the future,” Ms Tjawinoto advised.
Before wrapping up the interview, the girls also made sure to thank everyone who had supported them along the way, including their teachers, their friends, their school, and their parents.
And for anyone still unsure about giving the competition a shot, Ms Tjawinoto’s own experience speaks volumes:
We never expected to even make it past the first round, and here we are at the grand finale and winning first place!
All episodes of ‘National STEM Championship: Game On’ are now available to watch on TheSmartLocal’s and Science Centre Singapore’s YouTube channels.
This post was brought to you in collaboration with Science Centre Singapore.
Featured image by MS News.
