2022-23 Registration is closed!

Before you join in the SO Club and pay the club fees, make sure you go through and complete the following:

• Make sure to have a team already. Each team consists of up to 15 members with members of any grades (6/7/8), and there aren't any rules restricting 6th graders or 7th graders or 8th graders from joining. Each team also needs a volunteer Chief team coach, who has to be a parent of one of the team members. 
• The club WILL NOT help students find a team, force students onto a team, or recommend teams to join. This is all strictly student responsibility. The SO club will only accept at most 6 teams. When we get to 6 teams, registration will close. 
• The 2022-23 Science Olympiad (Division B Middle School Level) consist of 23 events. Please make sure to read through the contents of each of them. 2023 Division B Events | Science Olympiad (soinc.org)
• In a full team of 15 students each student will be assigned 1-2 events, which will possibly require upwards of 2-3 study hours per week. Each team will also have their own regular meetups which will also take up time. Please evaluate your time commitment capabilities. We would like for no students to quit a team in the middle of the season. 

If you have read through the above and completed/confirmed everything, please go to Registration Link (the link will become inactive on October 12th, 2022, at 11:30am) in order to register. 

If you still have not joined a team but you want to join one, please complete the following RSVP Form (link will become inactive on October 11th, 2022)

• You will receive emails containing the contact information of parents and students who have filled out the RSVP form so you can go and contact them to form a team. WHEN YOU COMPLETE THIS FORM, YOU ARE GIVING SO CLUB PERMISSION TO USE STUDENT'S NAME, PARENT'S NAME, AND CONTACT INFORMATION. This information will only be shared with others who have filled out the RSVP form. If you have any concerns regarding your information being shared, please do not fill out this form, and instead reach out to other students via your own channels. 

2022-23 school year Science Olympiad Club Registration will open online on September 6th, 2022, midnight, and close on October 11th, 2022. If you would like to join the Science Olympiad Club, please fill out the club registration form in this time. We will not accept any new club attendees after this registration time closes. 

Club Fees

• The club registration fee is $50 per student for the entire 2022-23 school year. If this club fee is unable to cover the club registration and operational fees, then more fees may be collected later. This club fee is nonrefundable.
• The club registration fees cover all of the invitational and regional tournaments' registration fees and the club operational costs.
• Each team's study and building materials are to be bought and paid for by the teams themselves as they see fit.
• Travel and accommodation are parents' responsibility.

Information Sharing & Important Dates

Season planning: https://www.soinc.org/play/tournaments

The events page contains pointers to all subject areas in B and C Divisions. Event information will also be published here.

Events and subject resources:2023 Event Table | Science Olympiad (soinc.org)

MY SO is a program that complements Science Olympiad's traditional US tournament structure and is available to all middle and high school students who love STEM and want to stay engaged in learning - at home, at school, or after school. Take advantage of free resources like Lesson Plans and STEM Session videos or buy a ticket to a STEM Showdown and test your knowledge against a national audience for a Top 25 MY SO Medal!

MY SO: https://www.soinc.org/myso

National Science Olympiad web page: https://www.soinc.org/

National Science Olympiad Season Planner: Science_Olympiad_Season_Planner_2022_2023.pdf (soinc.org)

National Science Olympiad Event Slate: 2023.Events_Chart.pdf (soinc.org)

Science Olympiad rules manual: 2023 Rules | Science Olympiad (soinc.org)

Washington Science Olympiad: https://washingtonscienceolympiad.com/

How Science Olympiad Works at Evergreen

Team Composition

Head Team Coach

Each team is required to have at least one head team coach that will represent the team and coordinate with the EMS SO club chair on behalf of the team. Each team's head coach will lead the team and organize studying and preparation. 

Event Coaches 

Parents of the students of a team are expected to take on the role of Event coaches for one or more topics. It is the responsibility of the event coaches to ensure students are on track with preparations for their respective events. 

Time Commitment Expectations

Time commitment expectations vary from team to team. 

• 3 events could mean about a minimum of 3 to 8 hours per week, balanced between weekly event meetings, individual practice, team meetings etc. 
• We do not discourage students from participating in other activities, but we do require students to prioritize Science Olympiad in the event of schedule conflicts with other events. 
• Build events do require a substantial amount of time more than study events and this should be taken into consideration as well when choosing events. Students have to build and make many prototypes with various practices throughout the year.  

Team Formation

Tenets

• Students self-organize to form their own team.
• Each student, be it a 6^th, 7^th or 8^th grade can participate and contribute equally provided they put in sufficient effort. Previous participants in SO will have an advantage due to prior knowledge of one or more subjects, but a new student with dedication and effort can perform equally well.

Team Formation Steps

• Any 6th - 8th grader current Evergreen Middle School Students.
  • Registration for SO will be open from 9/6/2022 to 10/11/2022. These dates are final, and no exception will be allowed. Any student that has not registered by this date will not be able to participate in SO. 
  • Between 9/6/2022 to 10/11/2022, students can interact between themselves and form a team of up to 15 students. This pre-formed teams by students will reduce chaos and will serve as a good starting point to form teams quickly. 
  • Teams come up with their own team's name. There will be temporary team names for intermediate team formation purposes only.
  • Once the teams are finalized one of the parents will be picked as the head coach by the team.

Additional Commitments

Head Team Coach(es)

• Schedule, Practice and Progress
  • Assign events to students ensuring no schedule conflicts
  • Collaborate with coaches for block schedule
  • Assist with Gather materials from SO website
  • Ensure dates (invitational and regional work for everyone on team).
  • Monitor progress of all events and resolve conflicts within teams. Ensure that all members are active and participating satisfactorily.
  • Providing question papers and materials whenever needed.
  • Help with brainstorming solutions for build events.
  • Resolve conflicts within the team. Maintain cordial relationship with all coaches.
  • Keep SO Student families apprised of challenges and accomplishments.
  • Encourage students to follow up with each other to keep student members honest.
  • Must inform SO club chair if a student drops out. Works with SO Club chair to backfill spots.
  • Take team Pictures and share.
  • Build positive team morale.
  • Have a conversation with student families who are not participating and create a plan.
• Invitational and Tournaments
• Collaborate with SO Chair for Block Schedule Sign up prior to every invitational and tournament.
• Be polite and professional to Regional Coordinator and Tournament Directors at all times, under any circumstance
• Under any circumstances NOT do anything to jeopardize the continuity of the program for future years for the school.
• Work with Tournament Director/SO Chair for each event.
• Work with all coaches in a unified way, when resolving issues with tournament/invitational director. Keep School Coordinator in loop.
• Maintain professional transparent communication at all times, helping school coaches.
• If so arranged, sign up for events for each tournament, promptly, a few days prior to each tournament.
• Handle and register disputes during Tournament.
• Educate Team parents on code of conduct during Invitationals and Tournaments.
• Coordinate Team Snacks during Tournaments (Optional)
• Create Team T-Shirt. (Optional)
• Help with sponsoring a team event for invitationals.
• Arrange snacks for the team for invitationals
• Finance
• Collect funds from team to share expenses. Manage team finances. 

Student Families (Parents & Students)

• SO takes management and coordination. Parent participation is required.
• Student families must participate in team meetings arranged by Head Team Coach(es).
• Parent must serve as the coach for the events student is participating and guide/mentor students for their events. Especially in the beginning.  Once students understand, they are eventually able to guide themselves on the next steps.
• Procure materials for building (from shops, or websites) to support event.
• Provide raw materials (like a binder, stationary) for students to maintain all their notes in a binder
• Provide study materials. Provide students access to a printer, computer and monitored internet access.
• Maintain a schedule of invitationals and Tournament dates and ensure no conflicts occur with family
• If a conflict occurs, inform coach, event partner, their families right away.
• Help students take practice tests to enhance learning.
• Note that at the time of SO Registration, Tournament site dates and Invitational dates are unknown. Families need to be flexible to accommodate SO Schedule and inform team coach if they can’t make it to Regionals at the earliest possible date.
• Role of Student:
  • Prepare well for the event. Read the syllabus provided by SO for your event
  • Attend all invitationals & tournaments
  • Schedule and Take practice tests regularly. Work on Build events and labs.
  • Ensure event is supported with sufficient practice.
  • Follow up on progress with teammates.

Q&A

Q: If our team doesn't have 15 people, can our team still register?

A: Ideally, a full team has 15 people, but even if there are 13-14 students in a team, the team can register. Even if there are 11-12 students on a team, you may register, but be aware that some students may leave the team in the middle, and this might overburden the remaining students with more events, and this might affect the performance of the team. So, please try and recruit students and build a full team of 15 students. 

Q: After I complete club registration, what is the next step?

A: After the entire SO club online registration closes, all registered SO club members will receive an email containing detailed information about the club activities. 

Q: Right before I completed the payment step of registration, I received an email from the system that told me that I have registered for the club. Does this mean that my registration is completed even though I didn't finish payment?

A: No! This email is just sent out by the system and is triggered by completing the first few steps of registration. This DOES NOT mean that your registration is completed. You must complete the final step of payment.

Q: I am a parent and I want to be a head coach, but I do not have any experience in coaching. Am I qualified to be the head coach?

A: YES! The SO club will provide you with a coaching plan for the entire Science Olympiad Season. This plan will have everything you need and contains week by week practice plans for your use.

Chair(TBD)

We are desperately seeking SO club chair(s) for the 2022-23 school year. If you are interested in leading the club, please send an email to: enrichment@evergreenptsa.org