What is Science Olympiad? It is a national program where students learn science through active and hands-on participation.
Science competition? Yes! Students from participating schools compete in events that require knowledge of science facts and others that rely on scientific processes or skills.
What makes up a team? Students from grades 6th - 9th may participate. Memorial will compete with 2 teams of 15 students covering the 23 events. Students typically compete in 3-5 events.
More information
Students will participate in the events that suit them best (interest and skill level are both factors). Most events meet at least once per week at the high school. Each event has a coach that will help prepare the students for the competition. In most cases, each event coach teaches students from all three middle schools at the same time. Some of our events are more popular than others and can fill up quickly. We will attempt to have students participating in the events they are the most interested in, but please try to have a list of events you would like to try as you may not get your first choice.
Time commitment
Each team can only have 15 students and there are 23 events, which means each team member has to compete in more than one event. Memorial runs three teams, which means up to 45 people can participate at each invitational. We will do our absolute best to make sure each team member gets to compete at least once, though we often have more than 45 students participating. The more events you prepare for, the more likely it will be that you will get to compete. We ask that you sign up for at least three events. You will also need to spend time outside of your event meeting studying your material.
Competitions
All competitions are on Saturdays. We participate in 4 invitationals which serve as practice for our main events. At Regionals, we compete to be in the top 6 teams so that we can be eligible for States. Although we take three Memorial teams to invitationals, only two teams are allowed to compete at Regionals and just one team for States. That means only 15 students plus a few alternates will be able to go if we make it to States. If we are in the top 2 teams at States, we qualify to move on to Nationals.
Pay-to-Play
Science Olympiad is a pay-to-play activity. The fee required by the district is $150 (or $50 if you already have already paid a pay-to-play fee this year). Fees will be due in December.
Parent Involvement
We are looking to fill several event coaching positions. If you have knowledge in a science field that may cover one of our events, we would love to have your expertise. Many of our events are not coached by science experts, however, so if you enjoy working with kids and are willing to learn alongside the, we can use your help! In addition to coaching, we need several parent volunteers at our competitions. All parent coaches and volunteers need to be fingerprinted as per district regulations.
Who to contact
For questions or more information, please contact Kim Driscoll (driscoll@mentorschools.org) or Leena Malik (malik@mentorschools.org)
View the new member presentation here: click here for the presentation (coming soon)
Send Ms. Driscoll and Mrs. Malik an email letting them know you want to join the team: driscoll@mentorschools.org; malik@mentorschools.org
Decide which 3 events you'd like to study - information about our events can be found on the home page of this site, make sure you have some back up ideas in case your favorite events are full
Check the weekly coaching schedule to make sure you're available for the events you'd like to study: click here for the schedule
Add your name to events that have open spots: click here for the sign up sheet
Complete the fall team paperwork and turn it in to Ms. Driscoll (available on the home page of this site)
Start attending events!
**Make sure you act fast. We can't take any new team members after November 1st**