Parents, Students and Coaches,
The advisors just got back from a wonderful coaches training session in Centerville, Ohio. It was very informative and we have gotten a lot of information to pass on to the coaches. I need to clarify a few things for the good of the group.
1) There will be a student meeting this Thursday, October 27th at 4:10 in the library. If parents are available you are more than welcome to come and ask questions. At this time I will be discussing the current situation and asking students to volunteer to participate in those events for which we do not have enough people. These events include Aquifers, Disease, Dynamic Planet Food Science, Meteorology, Optics and Water Quality. Please know that Optics has to deal with bouncing lasers off mirrors! It's super easy and fun at the same time! I will be coaching Aquifers which is partly a building event, and Disease has to do with food borne illnesses!! Very cool!
3) The coaches are receiving their participant lists and are starting to contact their members. Many are starting either this week or next, but know that some coaches have not chosen a starting time yet! Please refer to the website for the most up to date event meeting times, and we will begin to update locations.
4) I need to give you a brief overview of how this program works, for those of you who are still lost.
Your students practice once a week in their chosen events. We have 5 dates where we will compete against other schools from around Ohio and some from out of State. We take a bus and parents are very much encouraged to meet us at the respective school to cheer on the students.
When it comes time for one of those competitions, I have to create teams. Since we have approximately 30 people I can create two teams, each having 15 students on it. I then have to take these 15 students and place them in their events.
Per the event rules, some events allow two students to compete, per team, such as Bottle Rockets, and others allow three students to compete, such as Experimental Design. Some of the events are scheduled at the same time, so I as the advisor have to take those 15 students I chose and place them in their respective events. This is why I say, if you choose an event with few people in it you will have a better chance of competing because I HAVE to put you in that event. If we only have four competitions, and I can use four people each day, two for each team, this means 16 people could possibly compete in that one event during the season. Mind you, I most likely will repeat some people to determine which students are good at working together. If I have 17 people signed up for that event at least one person is not going to ever compete in that event. This is why I say choose events there is no one in, as well as some events you are super interested in.
There is no limit/minimum number of events the students should look at. If they can dedicate their time to several events where they are not going to be one of 15 that would be great. Our team is only as strong as its weakest link!!
I hope to see you at the meeting this Friday.
Thank You
Coach King
Students, Families and Coaches,
The beginning of the Science Olympiad season is somewhat slow, for the coaches must get all of the information you provide us with organized. I had set the deadline for registration papers to be in as October 4th because I wanted to get a head start, but please know that if anyone still has paperwork to turn in (I am missing the student information sheet AND the event interest sheet from several people), or if you know someone that still would like to join it may be turned in at any time prior to November 1. I have some housekeeping items that I would like your help with, please sit down with your child when the right time arises and discuss these. (I have a lot on my mind, bear with me =) )
1: Every year the Science Olympiad teams order T-Shirts with their respective middle school's name on it. The students are in charge of coming up with the designs. Whoever chooses to create a design may do so, keeping in mind that it should be creative but simple, and turn in the design to the main office to be put in my mailbox. I also need to know what name you would like on the back of your T-Shirt.
2: There is a coaches meeting Monday, October 10 from 7-8:30pm in the Memorial Media Center. Anyone interested in coaching, or even if you may just want to "help out" with an event, please join us!! The committment is small, you choose a time once a week for an hour to meet with the students. The events that still need coaches are Aquifers, Dynamic Planet, Food Science, and Forestry. After this meeting I will be sending out more information on when the students will begin studying for their events.
3: I need you to respond to this question, although we will not be submitting pay to participate information until around November 1, because you will get charged differently based on your answer. I need to know whether to submit your student for $150 or for $50 for pay to participate. The difference.... $150= your only student that must pay to participate in an event OR the only event you will be paying to participate for. $50= this is your second student that is in a pay to participate activity in the Mentor Schools OR this is the second pay to participate activity your student is in.
4: Please look at the attatched event lists. Check to see that the events your son/daughter signed up for match what is on the sheet. Also, we have a bit of a problem. I think it's wonderful that so many students are interested in events such as bottle rockets, crime busters, and reach for the stars. I want everyone to attend the meetings they are interested in and have fun in Science Olympiad. However, note that our team is only as good as our strength in each event. If we don't have anyone for an event... our team is going to suffer significantly. Your chances of competing are better if you are spread out; for instance, if you switch from crime busters to something like forestry you will have better chances of competing because you will be one of only a few. I am going to need some people to fill in the holes one way or another. This is where our team can improve from last year, not having warm bodies in events we can be successfull in. The competitions work like this... for each event you get points based on what place you came in. 8th place= 8 points. The lowest number of points wins. If we achieve 30th in an event, that's 30 points and a big hit. Let me know if you would be willing to move around.
5: Last but not least, Mark Harker is going to be inviting you and your student to the wikidot site. This site allows you both to have access to all of the rules, study materials, and previous tests results for each event. Very useful information and the site is private, you are granted access by invitation only.
Thank you for discussing these few things. The parents are the backbone of this team, I don't know what I would do without all of you!
More to come soon. This will be on the webpage too, for those that did not get an email.
Thank You!!!
Coach King
The advisors just got back from a wonderful coaches training session in Centerville, Ohio. It was very informative and we have gotten a lot of information to pass on to the coaches. I need to clarify a few things for the good of the group.
1) There will be a student meeting this Thursday, October 27th at 4:10 in the library. If parents are available you are more than welcome to come and ask questions. At this time I will be discussing the current situation and asking students to volunteer to participate in those events for which we do not have enough people. These events include Aquifers, Disease, Dynamic Planet Food Science, Meteorology, Optics and Water Quality. Please know that Optics has to deal with bouncing lasers off mirrors! It's super easy and fun at the same time! I will be coaching Aquifers which is partly a building event, and Disease has to do with food borne illnesses!! Very cool!
3) The coaches are receiving their participant lists and are starting to contact their members. Many are starting either this week or next, but know that some coaches have not chosen a starting time yet! Please refer to the website for the most up to date event meeting times, and we will begin to update locations.
4) I need to give you a brief overview of how this program works, for those of you who are still lost.
Your students practice once a week in their chosen events. We have 5 dates where we will compete against other schools from around Ohio and some from out of State. We take a bus and parents are very much encouraged to meet us at the respective school to cheer on the students.
When it comes time for one of those competitions, I have to create teams. Since we have approximately 30 people I can create two teams, each having 15 students on it. I then have to take these 15 students and place them in their events.
Per the event rules, some events allow two students to compete, per team, such as Bottle Rockets, and others allow three students to compete, such as Experimental Design. Some of the events are scheduled at the same time, so I as the advisor have to take those 15 students I chose and place them in their respective events. This is why I say, if you choose an event with few people in it you will have a better chance of competing because I HAVE to put you in that event. If we only have four competitions, and I can use four people each day, two for each team, this means 16 people could possibly compete in that one event during the season. Mind you, I most likely will repeat some people to determine which students are good at working together. If I have 17 people signed up for that event at least one person is not going to ever compete in that event. This is why I say choose events there is no one in, as well as some events you are super interested in.
There is no limit/minimum number of events the students should look at. If they can dedicate their time to several events where they are not going to be one of 15 that would be great. Our team is only as strong as its weakest link!!
I hope to see you at the meeting this Friday.
Thank You
Coach King
Students, Families and Coaches,
The beginning of the Science Olympiad season is somewhat slow, for the coaches must get all of the information you provide us with organized. I had set the deadline for registration papers to be in as October 4th because I wanted to get a head start, but please know that if anyone still has paperwork to turn in (I am missing the student information sheet AND the event interest sheet from several people), or if you know someone that still would like to join it may be turned in at any time prior to November 1. I have some housekeeping items that I would like your help with, please sit down with your child when the right time arises and discuss these. (I have a lot on my mind, bear with me =) )
1: Every year the Science Olympiad teams order T-Shirts with their respective middle school's name on it. The students are in charge of coming up with the designs. Whoever chooses to create a design may do so, keeping in mind that it should be creative but simple, and turn in the design to the main office to be put in my mailbox. I also need to know what name you would like on the back of your T-Shirt.
2: There is a coaches meeting Monday, October 10 from 7-8:30pm in the Memorial Media Center. Anyone interested in coaching, or even if you may just want to "help out" with an event, please join us!! The committment is small, you choose a time once a week for an hour to meet with the students. The events that still need coaches are Aquifers, Dynamic Planet, Food Science, and Forestry. After this meeting I will be sending out more information on when the students will begin studying for their events.
3: I need you to respond to this question, although we will not be submitting pay to participate information until around November 1, because you will get charged differently based on your answer. I need to know whether to submit your student for $150 or for $50 for pay to participate. The difference.... $150= your only student that must pay to participate in an event OR the only event you will be paying to participate for. $50= this is your second student that is in a pay to participate activity in the Mentor Schools OR this is the second pay to participate activity your student is in.
4: Please look at the attatched event lists. Check to see that the events your son/daughter signed up for match what is on the sheet. Also, we have a bit of a problem. I think it's wonderful that so many students are interested in events such as bottle rockets, crime busters, and reach for the stars. I want everyone to attend the meetings they are interested in and have fun in Science Olympiad. However, note that our team is only as good as our strength in each event. If we don't have anyone for an event... our team is going to suffer significantly. Your chances of competing are better if you are spread out; for instance, if you switch from crime busters to something like forestry you will have better chances of competing because you will be one of only a few. I am going to need some people to fill in the holes one way or another. This is where our team can improve from last year, not having warm bodies in events we can be successfull in. The competitions work like this... for each event you get points based on what place you came in. 8th place= 8 points. The lowest number of points wins. If we achieve 30th in an event, that's 30 points and a big hit. Let me know if you would be willing to move around.
5: Last but not least, Mark Harker is going to be inviting you and your student to the wikidot site. This site allows you both to have access to all of the rules, study materials, and previous tests results for each event. Very useful information and the site is private, you are granted access by invitation only.
Thank you for discussing these few things. The parents are the backbone of this team, I don't know what I would do without all of you!
More to come soon. This will be on the webpage too, for those that did not get an email.
Thank You!!!
Coach King
This webpage will be used to post any news, photos, documents and important information concerning the Shore Science Olympiad team. Any necessary forms will be found here, downloadable for your own use. You will also be able to find event information, including event meeting times and schedules for upcoming competitions. It is my hope to start a blog for the students to communicate with each other in order to encourage team building.
I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to accept the Shore Middle School Science Olympiad Advisor position. I am a recent graduate of Ursuline College with a degree in Middle Childhood Education: Science and Math. I attended Shore Junior High school and graduated from Mentor High in 2007. While at Mentor I was active in Science Olympiad for three years and was a four year member of the varsity girls golf team. I completed my student teaching at Shore Middle School last year with Mrs. Melchreit and Mr. Grodek and was fortunate to be able to volunteer as the assistant Science Olympiad Advisor for 2010. I was also a part of the OLWEUS anti-bullying committee during my student teaching. Currently I am a building substitute at Memorial Middle School, which I love. It requires me to be at Memorial all day, every day which is why email is the best way to contact me. I just ended a wonderful season as the Mentor J.V. Girls golf coach and can not wait for this Science Olympiad season to begin. I am very much looking forward to a fun and exciting year filled with hard work, dedication and lots of laughter.
I look forward to getting to know all parents, families and coaches soon.
Coach King
I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to accept the Shore Middle School Science Olympiad Advisor position. I am a recent graduate of Ursuline College with a degree in Middle Childhood Education: Science and Math. I attended Shore Junior High school and graduated from Mentor High in 2007. While at Mentor I was active in Science Olympiad for three years and was a four year member of the varsity girls golf team. I completed my student teaching at Shore Middle School last year with Mrs. Melchreit and Mr. Grodek and was fortunate to be able to volunteer as the assistant Science Olympiad Advisor for 2010. I was also a part of the OLWEUS anti-bullying committee during my student teaching. Currently I am a building substitute at Memorial Middle School, which I love. It requires me to be at Memorial all day, every day which is why email is the best way to contact me. I just ended a wonderful season as the Mentor J.V. Girls golf coach and can not wait for this Science Olympiad season to begin. I am very much looking forward to a fun and exciting year filled with hard work, dedication and lots of laughter.
I look forward to getting to know all parents, families and coaches soon.
Coach King