Still Time to Register for the Training Conference

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If you have not yet enrolled in this Saturday’s (September 26) Science Olympiad training conference, please remember that Wednesday is the last day to do so.  enroll now at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LXW93GP

We have a special event for new and nearly new participating schools!

Event Supervisor and Science Olympiad Alumnus Aaron Washburn has developed a list of must-have items that every Science Olympiad team needs to get started:

19in Tool Tote

7 pc Plier Set

6in Coping Saw

16oz Claw Hammer

Adjustable Screw Driver

3pk Super Glue

40pc SAE & Metric Socket Set

12in Stainless Steel Ruler

8in Adjustable Wrench

Large Utility Knife

3/8in Electric Drill

13pc Drill Bit Set

12in Quick Release Bar Clamp

6in Quick Release Bar Clamp

2xNut and Bolt Assortment Set

25’ Tape Measurer

Small C-Clamp

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If you shop well, the total cost for these items is a bit over $100.  But Aaron has pulled together 2 of these “starter kits” which we give as door prizes at the training Saturday.  The door prizes are limited to teams who first joined the Science Olympiad last year or this year.

What a great way to start a new team!

Still time to register for the September 26th Science Olympiad Training!

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Go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LXW93GP to reserve your place in this full day (8-4) of training in Howell Hall on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma

Registration closes at the end of the day Wednesday, September 23rd!

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.

Trainers include:

Diane Herron – Bartlesville

Aaron Washburn – Tinker AFB

Shannon Semet – Casady

Aric Sappington – Casady

Sarah Bailey – Broken Arrow

Gayle Hahn – Broken Arrow

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.

Download the program schedule: 15-16 SO Training Program

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 have arrived and will be available for teams who have paid by check or Purchase Order for 2015-16 membership.  We will not be able to process payments at the conference.

 

Science Olympiad National Tournament Follow Up

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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

Time to Enroll!

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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.

Get Ready for Next Year’s Science Olympiad

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2016 SO chart

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.

Casady B and C Teams Compete in the Science Olympiad National Tournament

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(Lisa Bek-gran)

(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.

Complete results can be found here:
In addition, The team of Nicolas Moore and Michael Ting placed 8th in the SUMO BOTS trial event and Jackson Davis tied for 8th place in the B Division Science Bowl trial event held on Friday.
(courtesy Shannon Semet)

(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.

Student teams from Troy High School in Fullerton, CA and Solon Middle School in Solon, Ohio took top honors at the 31st Annual Science Olympiad National Tournament at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, on Saturday, May 16, 2015. “These winning teams exemplify the best America has to offer in science, technology, engineering and math,” says Gerard Putz, Science Olympiad president and co-founder. “We are proud of their achievements and know their schools and communities will welcome them home like champions.”

One of the nation’s most prestigious science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions, Science Olympiad brings together 120 winning middle school and high school teams advancing from state-level competitions this spring. Rigorous hands-on, building and lab events led by experts from government agencies, top universities and Science Olympiad state chapters cover topics in physics, epidemiology, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology and engineering. A full list of 2015 national tournament award recipients and official tournament results, including event-by-event scoring is posted here: http://soinc.org/2015_national_tournament

Other top high school (Division C) winners at the National Tournament include:

– Second: Mira Loma HS, California
– Third: Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Texas
– Fourth: Centerville HS, Ohio
– Fifth: Mounds View HS, Minnesota
– Sixth: Munster HS, Indiana
– Seventh: Fayetteville-Manlius HS, New York
– Eighth: Harriton HS, Pennsylvania
– Ninth: Grand Haven HS, Michigan
– Tenth: Adlai E. Stevenson HS, Illinois
Other top middle school (Division B) winners at the National Tournament include:
– Second: Beckendorff JHS, Texas
– Third: Winston Churchill MS, California
– Fourth: Piedmont IB MS, North Carolina
– Fifth: Daniel Wright JHS, Illinois
– Sixth: Marie Murphy MS, Illinois
– Seventh: Longfellow MS, Virginia
– Eighth: Muscatel MS, California
– Ninth: Meads Mill MS, Michigan
– Tenth: Paul J. Gelinas JHS, New York
The University of Nebraska awarded 47 scholarships to Science Olympiad National Tournament gold medal winners in the high school Division C. Out-of-state students will receive the George Beadle Scholarship, valued at $13,500 a year for four years, while resident students will receive a tuition scholarship for up to 120 credit hours or the completion of a bachelor’s degree, subject to UNL requirements.Teams from Bedford MS in Connecticut and Desert Mountain HS in Arizona earned the 2015 Lockheed Martin Spirit Awards (including $2,000 for their team), which recognize schools whose team members exhibit exemplary sportsmanship, teamwork, team spirit and respect that exemplify the spirit of Science Olympiad competition. In addition, Fulton Science Academy from Georgia and Mentor High School from Ohio won the DuPont Team Enterprise Awards, recognizing a breakout performance by a team at the National Tournament.Local sponsors of the 2015 Science Olympiad National Tournament include the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Cooper Foundation, Peter Kiewit Institute, Nebraska Academy of Sciences, Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lozier, UNL College of Arts and Sciences, UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, UNL College of Education and Human Sciences, UNL Housing and Dining, Awards Unlimited, J.C. and Jessie Seacrest Family Foundation, Nebraska Environmental Trust Public Information and Education Grants and University of NE State Museum. Science Olympiad is supported nationally by University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Combined Federal Campaign, FOX Broadcasting,

Lockheed Martin, NBC Universal Foundation, ACE Hardware, ArcelorMittal, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Discovery Education 3M Young Scientists Challenge, DuPont and the DuPont Center for Collaborative Research and Education, DuPont Pioneer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Texas Instruments, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), US Army ROTC, VWR Foundation, Ward’s Science, Academy of Model Aeronautics, Chandra X-Ray Center and NASA, Investing in Communities, MAKE Magazine, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC), Society for Neuroscience (SfN), Yale Young Global Scholars, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Hardware Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Maker Education Initiative and Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

Science Olympiad is a Chicago-area-based national nonprofit organization founded in 1984. It is dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 STEM education, increasing student interest in science, creating a technologically literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers. More than 220,000 students on 7,300 teams from all 50 states competed in 390 regional, state and national Science Olympiad tournaments last year.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an educational institution of international stature, known for its research in key areas of water, food, robotics, concussions and digital humanities. Over 25,000 students from 100 countries study here and benefit from a strong focus on undergraduate education, intensive honors programs and research opportunities with top faculty. A member of the Big Ten Conference, Nebraska ranks among the top 50 public universities by U.S. News & World Report.

State Tournament Results

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Casady B and C teams celebrate wins at the State Tournament. (photo Lisa Bek-gran)

 

The University of Central Oklahoma once again played host to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad State Tournament.  23 teams competed for honors and the right to represent Oklahoma at the National Science Olympiad tournament on May 16th at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Tournament Results:

Division B:

1st Place – Casady Middle School, Oklahoma City.  Aric Sappington, Coach

2nd Place – Whittier Middle School, Norman.  Nikki Tolbert, Coach

3rd Place – Central Middle School, Bartlesville. Diane Herron, Coach

Division C:

1st Place – Casady Upper School, Oklahoma City. Lisa Bek-gran, Coach

2nd Place – Union High School, Tulsa. Jenny Jackson, Coach

3rd Place – Tishomingo, High School, Tishomingo. Selena Thomas, Coach

As always, the Oklahoma Science Olympiad is grateful to our tournament host, the University of Central Oklahoma and the Dean of the School of Math and Science, Dr. Charlotte Simmons and our Tournament Director, Dr. Beth Allan for their support for the State Tournament.

Thanks must also go to the many people who donated their time this year to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.  This includes the many people who served as Event Supervisors at any of the tournaments held this year.  These STEM Professionals make it possible to hold 46 events for the over 400 students who participated in the Science Olympiad this year.  There are many other volunteers that serve roles in supporting teams, providing transport, mentoring, and helping to put on tournaments.  At the State Tournament alone, students from UCO, OSU, and OU were working behind the scenes to provide logistical support.  Event Supervisors from the United States Air Force, NOAA, the National Severe Storms Lab, OU, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, OG&E, UCO, the Sooner Flight Academy, Rose State College, and from most of the participating schools, made it possible to offer all but one of the Science Olympiad events.

Finally, thank you to all students and Coaches who participated in the Science Olympiad this year.  Tell all your friends and bring them on board and involved next school year in America’s number one STEM Competition.

State Tournament Saturday, March 7

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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.

IT’S STATE TOURNAMENT WEEK!

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It’s on at the University of Central Oklahoma this Saturday, March 7th.  Team Check-in room is Howell Hall, Room 306.  Events through the day are in Wantland Hall, Howell Hall and the Nigh University Center.  Opening ceremonies are in the Nigh Center’s Constitution Hall at 8:30AM.  Be there and wear your Oklahoma Science Olympiad t-shirt. (order by March 2nd at http://oklahomashirtcompany.com/products/science-olympiad-15)

shirts