Casady School is hosting a Science Olympiad “Mentoring Workshop” on Saturday, October 25, from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM on the campus of Casady School in OKC. The goal of this workshop is to bring together experienced mentors and Science Olympians from across Oklahoma as a means of encouraging growth in the students and their events. For example, a medical doctor might meet with students preparing for the “Anatomy and Physiology” event, or a geography teacher might mentor students in the “Road Scholar” event.

We need mentors! We are looking for teachers, coaches, parents, meteorologists, paleontologists, geologists, physicists, petroleum engineers, etc., who are willing to volunteer their time. On the morning of Saturday, October 25, mentors will host one or two 75-minute sessions wherein they will work with groups of students to help them prepare for specific events.

There will be two sessions: Session 1 will run from 8:30-9:45 AM, followed by a 30-minute break, and Session 2 will follow from 10:15-11:30 AM.

Mentor’s Workshop Information sheet

Please sign up at the link below if you are able to mentor for one or both sessions:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11jEwRMCkCBmsMedt4aJnyN9tzzdEYd6V66DtzgIwiEA/viewform?usp=send_form

Additionally, please share this link and information with anyone you think might have the time and expertise to mentor the Science Olympiad students. The “Mentoring Workshop” will only be as good as we make it; the more mentors we have, the more beneficial it will be for everyone involved. The workshop is new to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad program, and we are looking forward to the unique learning opportunity it provides the students.

For more information, please contact Shannon Semet or Bob Melton.

The Science Olympiad Rules Manuals have arrived, the Coaches and Event Supervisor Training is just around the corner, and the first SO Invitational Tournament is in November. Are you ready?

1. If you have yet to do so, sign up for the Coaches and Event Supervisor Training September 20th at UCO.  Details are in an earlier post.  Know a STEM professional who would be a good Event Supervisor?  Have them sign up.  They can attend all or part of the training.  Lunch will be provided.  Have parents or colleagues who will serve as mentors or who will serve in a support role for a team?  Have them sign up!  go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q6SKSG8 to register.

2. Formalize your membership in the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.  If you join before September 20th, you will receive your 2015 Science Olympiad Rules manual at the Training. That’s a lot less difficult than waiting for the the manual to arrive in the mail.  Go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5CPPJMM to register your team.

Checks or  Purchase Orders should be made to the Putnam City Administrative Activity Fund, 5401 NW 40th, Oklahoma  City, OK  73122  The memo should read “Science Olympiad”.  Only Science Olympiad member teams can receive rule books or participate in tournaments.

Membership in the Science Olympiad is $100 per team.  $60 of that fee is for national membership, the remaining $40 stays in Oklahoma and helps fund the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.

This year, schools may enter as many teams in Division B or Division C as they wish to compete in invitational tournaments as well as the State Tournament.  However, EACH team must have a separate national/state membership.  If, for example, your school has 50 students who want to compete in the tournaments,  you can establish 3 separate teams and bring them to the competitions.  However, each team will have to have a separate paid National and State Science Olympiad membership ($100 X 3 = $300 total). Only teams with fully paid memberships will be allowed to participate in invitational tournaments or the state tournament. This is a requirement of the National Science Oympiad.

3.  The first Invitation Tournament will be held November 22 and will be hosted by Broken Arrow.  Invitational Tournaments, especially those held early in the year, usually have a reduced set of events.  Instead of the full complement of 23 events in each Division, it is more likely to be 12-13.  In addition, Invitational tournaments usually require teams to BYOES (Bring Your Own Event Supervisor)  We have a number of events, especially those requiring construction and timed courses, that require specialized equipment and timers.  But even those events will need supervisors and helpers and many other events will not be offered if each team cannot provide a supervisor.  The tournament directors will coordinate events and assign supervisors with participating teams as tournament registration takes place.

The complete schedule is this:

November 22 – Broken Arrow (location TBD)

January 10 – Putnam City West HS

February 7 – Norman Public Schools (location TBD)

March 7 – State Tournament, University of Central Oklahoma