SO as a class?

[Megan Smith]

Good evening,
I am getting ready to present to our district’s Board of Education about our Science Olympiad program. We are currently in year one and I am a parent volunteer who is ‘coaching’ our team. I would love to see our school district offer Science Olympiad as a class during the day; offering it to more students and building it into our elective curriculum.

Are any of your schools doing this? Could you share any models of how this is working or any success stories? I, and other parents, see so much value in this program and would love to see it continue and expand.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer!

Megan E. Smith
USD 460 - Kansas

Sent from my iPhone

[Yvette Todd]

We had a Science Olympiad class for a while at my STEM charter school. Originally, we had the same thoughts as you expressed here. We saw how many hours the students were putting in after school and thought it would give them some of their after school time back if they could study during the school day. The issue became that most of our Science Olympiad students want to take as many Advanced Placement/Honors classes as possible. They are also the same students that apply for internships. It became very difficult for any of the actual team members to take the class. Many students were placed in the class that had little to no interest in Science just because they did not want to take PE or foreign language as an elective. I definitely think offering it as a class can be beneficial but as with most things in education it depends on how your admin implements it. 

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Yvette Todd

Science Department Teacher & Senior Class Activities Coordinator

The Palmdale Aerospace Academy

3300 E. Palmdale Blvd., Palmdale, CA 93550

661-273-3680

[Laura Lucas]

Hello, Megan. 

My school offers Science Olympiad as an elective for grades 7-12, two periods a week. High school students receive a half credit per year towards the general elective graduation requirement. I’m in a private school, so all grades are in one building. We are in year four of our program. 

Scheduling is tricky across the grades, but we find creative ways to make it work. For example, this year, I have one period a week with 7-9th graders, one period with 11th graders, and one period with everyone. (I don’t have any sophomores or seniors this year.)  My teams are skewed to the younger grades, where there are fewer elective options, but the older ones who continue are committed and really enjoy it. 

One thing to consider if you’re running it as a class is that I’ve found it’s much more manageable if you have two teachers per class. This allows one person to oversee the classroom and another to be available to check on kids who might be testing things in other parts of the building (e.g., the gym or hallway) or to work on the administrative side of Science Olympiad.  The challenge with that is it adds teaching hours and may mean the school needs to hire someone or move someone from part time to full time. 

Good luck!  Hope this helps. 

Laura Lucas

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From: scienceolym...@googlegroups.com <scienceolym...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Yvette Todd <yst...@tpaa.org>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 11:34:22 PM
To: Megan Smith <meganla...@gmail.com>
Cc: scienceolym...@googlegroups.com <scienceolym...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Science Olympiad Coaches] SO as a class?

 

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[Joanna MacDonald]

We have it as a class, students get a grade, but the class meets once a week after school. We do this for all of our academic teams ... Academic Decathalon, Mathletes, Mock Trial, Model UN, etc.  Students get a grade and they get 1 unit per semester.

[Jana Caban-Klepacova]

Hello All, 

can anyone provide some tips on how to pack and how to travel with Div. C Tower by plane? How do you get it to go on board as a carryon and not in the belly as a luggage? Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

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Jana Caban-Klepacova

305-301 3293

Nature, to be commended, must be obeyed.

F. Bacon 

[David Gebhart]

Curious.   How would Sci Oly be a class and graded?  What would be the criteria for a grade?   If after school, attendance would be interesting.

There are just so many questions on how that would even work.

David Gebhart

CWHS Sci Oly Coach

On Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM 'Joanna MacDonald' via Science Olympiad Coaches <ScienceOlym...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[MacDonald, Joanna]

I grade them on attendance. 10/10 for each meeting. I do let them make up time for missing meetings during lunches, but next year I'm going to limit the number of meetings they can make up.

I also grade them on participation... completion of progress checks, binder checks, turning in permission slips, build event completion, design log completion, etc.  Should be an easy A+, but, yeah, some kids....

Joanna MacDonald Science Instructor phone: +1 (916) 452-3461 St. Francis Catholic High School 5900 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95819

[Laura Lucas]

Yes, it’s pass/fail for my students, too. I assess similarly, on participation. Attendance is expected since it’s a class. 

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From: 'MacDonald, Joanna' via Science Olympiad Coaches <ScienceOlym...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 9, 2025 1:40:27 PM
To: David Gebhart <dsny...@gmail.com>
Cc: Science Olympiad Coaches <scienceolym...@googlegroups.com>

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