National Science Olympiad is a non-profit organization which promotes science instruction by organizing a national level Science Olympiad tournament annually (usually in May). Since inception of the idea in 1985, Jack Cairns and Gerard Putz have been promoting Science Olympiad instruction and competition throughout the United States and Canada. Now, 13,500 schools, or roughly 2-3 million junior, middle and high school students prepare and compete each year.
In preparation for the National tournament, National Science Olympiad writes, prints and distributes an official rule book each October. This rule book outlines around 24 B-Division (junior high and middle school) and 24 C-Division (high school) events selected from a pool of over 70 events. Events are the categories from which students may choose to study and prepare each year. These events have titles like Battery Buggy, Don't Bug Me, Mystery Architecture, Bridge Building and such. As a whole, the selection of 24 events require that a team (of up to 15 students) learn portions of every area of science included in the majority of school science curriculums. The rules for these events are meticulously edited each spring and summer by Science Olympiad leadership throughout the country. Each set of rules provide testing specifications which students must meet to be eligible for the National Science Olympiad competition.
Washington Science Olympiad is a State level, non-profit organization which operates independently of National Science Olympiad. However, because of the history and nature of Science Olympiad the function of the two entities, National Science Olympiad and Washington Science Olympiad is interdependent.
Washington Science Olympiad was founded in 1986. Co-Directors, Bob Campbell and Dick Prouty teamed up in the late 80's and 90's to promote Science Olympiad throughout the State. This year, over 100 teams are participating in three Regional level tournaments. The top five to ten teams from each division go on to compete at the State tournament. Generally speaking, the top team from each division then goes on to compete at the National tournament.
Washington State regional tournaments are held in the NW (Everett), SW (Vancouver) and Eastern (Spokane) areas of the state in March. The State tournament is held in April and currently hosted at either EWU in Cheney or Clark College in Vancouver.
Washington Science Olympiad tournaments are held on Saturdays and take all day. Usually, check-in and opening ceremony are early in the morning, competition takes place throughout the late morning and early afternoon, competitors are assessed, scores are tallied and awards (trophies and medals) are distributed in the early evening.
The workload for presenting a science-based competition of this nature is enormous. Each competition takes months to prepare. Thankfully, Washington has had strong support from community individuals, businesses and educational institutions. If you would like to learn more about Washington Science Olympiad, please get involved. There is a place for you! Write to: Jean Cavanaugh if you would like to register a team, volunteer to assist with competition prep or provide financial support as an official sponsor. Thank you.
