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.