Science Olympiad Needs Our Support

Today was Greensboro's Regional Science Olympiad competition. This was my 7th regional competition, and my second as a coach. Needless to say, I have been in a frenzy for weeks.

The full Wolf Moon was still hanging above the horizon, lighting up our yard, as I drove my car-full-of-snacks over to UNCG. I stopped to fuel up on sweet tea, picked up my Mom (without whom I would never have survived the day), and unloaded crates and bags of snacks, goggles, and calculators onto the sidewalk. For the next hour and a half, I frantically handed out orange t-shirts and wristbands, collected last minute photo consent forms, and directed kids to bagels, room assignments, and impound. All the while, Madonna played on repeat in my head..."Oh, God I think I'm falling out of control..." Finally, the chaos stilled at about 8:55. The kids had all headed out to their first events, the catapult was safely impounded, and Madonna found someone else to serenade. For the rest of the day, the kids swirled around me, competing in their events, eating constantly, and playing around in between.

Although my team didn't come away with any medals, we had a wonderful day together. As we were leaving the awards ceremony, feeling a little sad that we didn't have ANY medals to show for our hard work and long day, my kids were talking. They said things like:

• "I'm sad I didn't win anything. I'm going to win next year!"
• "Next year, I'm going to build the tower even better."
• "Even though we didn't win, I had so much fun. Today was like the best day ever."
• "Mrs. R, I made two new friends."

I am so proud of my children. ♥

Science Olympiad has been a big part of my life for years. In eighth grade, I competed on the middle school team for the first time. My best friend and I tried an event called Write It, Do It. The event requires that students be skilled in detailed written expression as well as following written directions. They must possess spatial awareness and an analytical mind. However, the biggest thing my best friend and I had going for us was that we spoke in code already! We knew each other so well, it was like we had our own secret language, where all the words were from English, but with secret added meanings only we could decipher. We won first place at regionals and fourth place at states that year. I was hooked.

In high school, I was privileged to be a part of a very, very close-knit, competitive team. We were like a family. This could be in part because we spent every single Saturday in the chemistry lab practicing, listening to music, eating pizza, and teasing each other. Our beloved coach, Mrs. Keele, was a soft-spoken lady who tolerated our hijinks and kept us on track. During my four years with that team, we made it to states every year, and my junior and senior years we traveled to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the University of Delaware at Newark for national competitions. Many of the friendships I made during that time are still strong today.

I have a strong background in chemistry and astronomy, as well as map-reading, Earth science, and science writing, from my studies for my events. I can navigate on land or use the stars to find my way. I am familiar with the Periodic Table and a variety of basic chemical processes.

My students are learning at an astonishing rate. They can build bottle rockets and catapults that really work, and they are learning to adjust and calibrate their creations to meet specific requirements. Other students are learning to find resources and draw out the important information. They are studying and deepening their knowledge of birds, fossils, human anatomy, and forensic science. My students are building knowledge and interests that will stay with them throughout their education and will influence their careers.

Science Olympiad teams across the country give students invaluable educational opportunities every day. In North Carolina, that may change. Governor Perdue released the proposed budget on Thursday, and it cuts funding for Science Olympiad. It does not appear to cut funding completely, but it does reduce it significantly (by about 15%). Science Olympiad's state funding is only about $150,000 to begin with, so a $25,000 cut will be detrimental to the program.

It seems to me that $25,000 is a small sum for the state, but a very large sum for Science Olympiad. If you agree and would like to see the money restored to Science Olympiad in the final budget, please consider contacting your state representatives (click for Guilford County's representatives. If you, your children, or your students have been positively impacted by this wonderful program, spend a few minutes drafting an email to your representative.

My students will be writing letters after school one day very soon. What can you do?