Reflections of a Science Olympiad Graduate

This high school graduate reflects on his Science Olympiad experiences:

I have taken part in Science Olympiad for six years. I have won an individual gold medal at the state competition, as well as a 3^rd and 4^th place individual event finish and a team finish of 6^th place at the state level. I have also taken home medals at invitational tournaments attended by nationally ranked teams. Overall, I have competed with the best young scientific minds in the nation and I have represented myself and my team well.

By competing with these teams and individuals, I have learned several things about how to succeed when competing at the highest level. I have found that the most important factor to success is working hard. The level of talent only determines how much more work is necessary to surpass everyone else. This understanding of hard work has led me to work harder in regular classes, at work, and in everyday life. I have done very well in all my other pursuits largely as a result of my experiences with Science Olympiad.

Science Olympiad has taught me to work harder and strive for perfection. These lessons continue to have practical applications in my life. I think that Science Olympiad was an excellent venue for me to learn the value of hard work and friendly competition, in addition to expanding my knowledge of science. I am pleased to have taken part in this group and regret that my time in Science Olympiad is now done. I look forward to continuing my studies with the lessons learned here.

Science Olympiad Event Coaches: Difference between Middle and High School

The school year is beginning and plans are being made to organize a Science Olympiad team.  Whether you are an experienced coach or just beginning, you look over the list of this year's 23 events with both anticipation and anxiety.  How will you get every event covered by students and monitor their progress?  High school students are better able to organize their time and motivate themselves than middle school students and high school students are better able to see the long-term benefits of their efforts, which provides them the intrinsic motivation needed to study for their events on their own.[1]  Therefore, many high school coaches monitor all the events at a high level,  periodically checking on progress, and relying on students to motivate themselves to study for and work on their events.

In middle school, more extrinsic motivation is needed to keep the students on task and develop their study and organizational skills. Therefore, it is more common to assign an adult event coach to monitor the progress of each event with some adults coaching more than one event. Drew Kirian, retired middle school coach from Solon Middle School in Solon, Ohio and 6 time national champion remarked:

It took me a long while to realize I couldn’t coach 23 events.  It’s a lot of work.  I try to get the parents to coach events so my assistant coach and I only have one or two events.

Some teams are able to get teachers to help coach an event, or people in the community with a special interest in science education.  But parents are often asked to volunteer their time to help their team whether or not they have a strong science background.  While every team will have their own formula for success, there is a trend of more adult involvement and support at the middle school level compared to the high school level.

For more information on the 23 events for the 2013-2014 school year, visit http://www.soinc.org/2014_event_table

[1] http://www.education.com/reference/article/developmental-motivation-dfferent-age/