Science Olympiad

Eligibility Requirements:
Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events. Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation. The testing requires students to study up on self-selected topics and focuses on lab-based skills and interpretation, content-based knowledge, and engineering/building skills. To be eligible, a background in the selected topic is helpful, but a commitment to devoting outside time to mastering the material and practicing the skills is most important. There is an ever-growing library of resources to assist in studying/practice and to ensure that work is being completed on schedule for the competitions.

Time Commitment:
Preliminary organizational meetings are typically held at the beginning of the school year. Regularly scheduled meetings occur after Thanksgiving break. These regularly scheduled meetings are once per week for about an hour. There is a regional competition held at the end of March, which requires students to be absent from school for one day. There is a state competition held at the end of April, which occurs on a Saturday. There is a possibility to advance to nationals, which is held at the end of May in alternating locations across the nation. Most of the meetings are not mandatory, but there are progress checks to ensure that work is being completed on schedule for the competitions at regionals and state. Students should expect to spend many hours outside of meetings and school time preparing for the events they have chosen to compete in.

Procedures for Joining:
Attend the preliminary organizational meeting at the beginning of the school year, or come and see one of the advisors to sign up.

Activity Time Period:
Science Olympiad students meet from August through May.

Membership Limit:
Teams competing in Science Olympiad consist of up to 15 members with the opportunity for some alternates and are limited to no more than seven seniors per team. Century High School typically sends two teams to the regional competition. Only one team is allowed to participate in the state competition. The number and distribution of members on a team is entirely dependent upon how many students show an active interest in the club. There will be a spot at the regional level for everyone who wants to be involved.

Location of Meetings:
Science Olympiad will meet in a designated room. The location is to be determined.

Advisor:
Mr. Tim Fletcher and Mrs. Laura Mastel