Great to see so many of you at the 2015 Science Olympiad National Tournament at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln — the committee did a fantastic job and we couldn’t be prouder! All your teams were absolutely incredible, and the kids had such a great time.

Full results and Top 6 places for each event posted:

http://soinc.org/2015_national_tournament

For both Divisions B and C, Top 6 Team photos, action shots and Medal Winners photos posted :

https://www.facebook.com/SOAlumniNetwork

Archived live stream of Opening and Division B and C Awards Ceremonies posted:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceOlympiadTV

A quick scan of the Top 6 Medalists in each Division reveals:

Division B medal winners were 57% male, 43% female
Division C medal winners were 71% male, 29% female

Both of those beat national averages of women in STEM, and the percentage of girls on teams is even higher that those percentages for the Top 6 places.

39 of our 49 state organizations came away with a Top 6 medal, Top 10 Placement, or one of the special prizes like scholarships, the Spirit Award, DuPont Team Enterprise Award, Coaching Excellence Award, STEM Expo iPad winner and the ACE Hardware Science Star contest winner. (2015NatTournPrizeWINNERS) That’s awesome!!

Check our Twitter feed for lots of media stories, accolades and proclamations from local and state politicians and school boards, and great photos of happy kids.

https://twitter.com/SOAlumniNetwork
Search: #SO2015UNL, Science Olympiad and #scienceolympiad

Jenny Kopach
Science Olympiad
VP Marketing Communications

Join this year’s Oklahoma Science Olympiad  and attend the 2015-16 Training Conference

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH IN HOWELL HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.

Go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LXW93GP to reserve your place in this full day (8-4) of training! The conference is free and lunch is provided.

Trainers for this conference have set up a full schedule designed to get you set up and ready for the 2015-16 tournament season.

Our trainers provide a wealth of knowledge and experience that they will be able to share in this full-day workshop.  Their primary goal is to provide you with an overview of each of the 23 events in each division of this years Science Olympiad program. Along the way they will provide helpful hints and insights based upon their experiences in Science Olympiad at the state and national level.  Many have attended the National Science Olympiad Training Conference, most have been coaches for many years, and one was a student in a Science Olympiad program in middle and high school and is now in a STEM career field.

Each division will follow a separate strand which will review each of the 23 events in this year’s tournament catalog.  Each review will include an overview of the event rules and scoring procedures and a review of changes in the event from last year (when applicable).  During lunch (provided) we will conduct two panel discussions, one for event supervisors and another for coaches. The schedule has been arranged so that participants, particularly event supervisors, can follow a morning-only or afternoon-only schedule and still participate in the lunch and panel discussions.

THIS TRAINING IS FOR ALL VETERAN AND WELL AS NEW AND PROSPECTIVE EVENT SUPERVISORS AND COACHES.

The official 2016 Science Olympiad rule books for teams should be available when this training occurs.  Your check or Purchase Order for 2015-16 membership will reserve your copy for delivery at the training.

Cost is $100 per team to participate in the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.  And we have our first invitational tournament in November.  Checks or PO’s should be made out to Oklahoma Science Olympiad, Putnam City Schools Administrative Activity Fund, 5401 NW 40th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73122

Enroll your team in the Oklahoma Science Olympiad using the link HERE

Don’t miss this opportunity to bring one of the nation’s most exciting STEM programs to your students!  Join over 7,000 teams in the United States that participate in Science Olympiad!

Contact Bob Melton for more information about the training conference and Science Olympiad.

Several years ago I was able to attend the National Science Olympiad Tournament when it was hosted by Wichita State. We stayed off campus along with several teams from other states so there was an opportunity to talk with students and coaches in the time just before and after the tournament on Saturday (everybody had their game face on when we saw them on Saturday).  Early Sunday morning at breakfast I spoke to a young man who had scored well (top 3) the day before in the Wright Stuff competition the day before.  We talked about his airplane and how well it performed during the tournament.  And then he told me that he would start building his planes for the next year as soon as he returned home.  He said, “I know some of these other guys who are building airplanes and next year’s Wright Stuff winner will start building next week”.

I was struck by how insightful this young man was about what it takes to compete at the elite level of Science Olympiad.  The 2016 champions National Champions have already started preparing for the 2016 Science Olympiad Tournament.  Have you started?

Next year’s events are posted above.  If you are able to go to the National Science Olympiad Summer Institute this summer, you will get a preview and a jump start on preparation.

The next best thing is our own one-day workshop at UCO on Saturday, September 26th.  We will post detail later in the summer, BUT MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!

Participants will review the rules and specifications for each of the 23 Division B (middle school) or the 23 Division C (high school) events.  In addition, we will have a panel for Event Supervisors and one for Coaches so you can find out all you need to know to get prepared for the upcoming Science Olympiad invitational tournament season.  We’ll have registration forms for the training posted soon on this website and on the Science Olympiad Basecamp as well.

You can also begin the process to join Science Olympiad.  Enrollment forms will be posted in July, and you can begin the Purchase Order process with the start of the new fiscal year in July.  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 members can receive rule books, which normally arrive in mid-September.

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

Schools may enter as many teams as they wish to compete in invitational tournaments as well as the State Tournament.  However, EACH team must have a separate national and 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.

Watch this space, much more information will be posted on www.oksciolympiad.org.

(Lisa Bek-gran)

Casady  B earned 47th and Casady C earned 53rd of the 66 teams in each division at the Science Olympiad National Tournament at the University of Nebraska last week-end.

(courtesy Shannon Semet)

Casady Coach Aric Sappington was one of two middle school and two high school coaches selected from a pool of eligible applicants to receive an expenses-paid trip to the Science Olympiad Summer Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 13-17, 2015 at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort. (Valued at $2,000 each; registration, hotel, workshops and meals covered; travel voucher included.) The national training conference is a tremendous and valuable event and definitely something to put on your Science Olympiad Coach bucket list! Aric’s award is sponsored by Lockheed Martin.

The University of Central Oklahoma once again plays host to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.  Team Check-in begins at 7:30 and the Opening Ceremony begins in Constitution Hall of the Nigh Center at 8:30. Competing begins at 9:10 AM in various location in Howell Hall, the Nigh University Center and Wantland Gym and continuing through the day until 4:30 PM, when the tournament concludes with the Awards Presentation in Constitution Hall.  Many events are closed to the public, but some of the events in the University Center Ballroom, Wantland Hall, and the Auditoriam in Howell Hall are open to spectators.

The Norman Invitational Science Olympiad Tournament will be held Saturday, February 7th at Washington Irving Middle School, 124 Vicksburg Avenue, in Norman. A Google map is here.

Events begin at 9 AM and the Awards presentation is scheduled for 3 PM.

Hello Science Olympiad Friends!

From Jenny Kopach
Science Olympiad
VP Marketing Communications
National Executive Board Member .

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I was state champion in Anatomy & Physiology in 2012, the team was 3rd place for three years in a row and just a few points away from going to the national competition. I won over 70 medals over the four years I participated in Science Olympiad, and it was the most important academic competition in my life. Visiting Indiana University Bloomington’s campus for state Science Olympiad competitions helped me make the decision that I would go to  IU. Science Olympiad instilled a love for science and learning in me that will last me the rest of my life.

— Mason Markovich, Valedictorian, Whiting HS, Student at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

After spending three years studying protein biochemistry as part of Protein Modeling, I decided to study bioengineering as an undergrad. Honestly, without my involvement in Science Olympiad I would not have decided on this field of study, or even been accepted into my undergraduate school (CalTech). The opportunity to study interesting fields at levels beyond what was available to me in high school allowed me to explore so many fields of science I would never have touched upon otherwise. I’m incredibly grateful for the direction and opportunity that Science Olympiad gave me, as well as for the leadership experience and incredible memories that came with being a member of my high school team.

— Emily Mazo, Bioengineering/Computer Science Student at CalTech, CA (participated in PA Science Olympiad)

I received 30 medals overall through all six years I competed. My team did very well at the regional level, placing in the top five every year.  We did well at the State level as well, placing in the top eight every year. Science Olympiad has been part of my family for many years and it was literally a dream come true for me to be able to compete at the competitions and receive medals at the regional and state levels. I loved Science Olympiad and it became my passion. After competing in Anatomy and Designer Genes, my desire to be a nurse was confirmed. Another huge benefit of Science Olympiad was that I got familiar with the college campus. The university where the Science Olympiad competition was held is where I attend college now.  Because of the Science Olympiad competitions, I was familiar with the college campus. I knew where my classes were without even looking at a map and that knowledge calmed my nerves on the first day of classes. I LOVE Science Olympiad and I am so excited that I get to coach the students now and motivate them to do their best. It is such a joy to be part of their success at competition. Now, I coach four different events for the high school that I graduated from. I also assist in head coaching the whole team.

— Katelyn Kamp, Student at Grand Valley State University, MI

I didn’t know this as a sixth grader in the fall of 2002, but my participation in Science Olympiad would end up having a profound impact on my life. Because of my exposure to science and engineering in my Science Olympiad events, I ended up taking a number of advanced science courses in high school, which (not surprisingly) led to majoring in chemical engineering in college. Today, I’m a materials and process engineer at Boeing and use many of the same principles in my job that I learned while working on events like Experimental Design, Water Quality, Can’t Judge A Powder and so many more. STEM outreach is now one of my biggest passions, and organizations such as Science Olympiad are paramount in getting kids interested in STEM careers. I still stay involved with Science Olympiad serving at regional and state competitions; it’s truly a joy to see the minds of future scientists and engineers at work.

— Kate Nolan, Engineer at The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO

The Broken Arrow Invitational Tournament at Oneta Ridge Middle School will take place November 22nd.  Oneta Ridge is located at 6800 East Quincy Place, Broken Arrow, OK.