My two sons in middle school just finished participating in our state's Science Olympiad competition. I wondered if any of you have had experience with this. It was so exciting and huge amounts of work and effort. The kids spent every single day after school and most weekends preparing since the middle of January and probably 2 afternoons a week before that since the middle of November. There are 23 events in the middle school division and each kid was on a team of 2 or 3 for three to four events. Things like Awesome Aquifer or Meteorology or Tower Building. What I enjoyed seeing was how "normal" kids (not necessarily gifted or highly gifted) could succeed (one girl won second in the state for an event that she was passionate about). Our team placed 5th in the state overall, which delighted us (we're small and have no corporate sponsors and our main coach was an English teacher--but devoted). The website is www.soinc.org for information about it, but be forewarned, it is all-consuming. The kids are already fired up about what they'll undertake next year (while the grown-ups are glad to have their afternoons back).

My two kids and I went to watch it at Weber State University last year. I think that the competitions in Utah are either in late March or April. I also enjoyed it. My kid's school does not participate so far, but maybe next year? They are already making projects in 6th grade that are right from one of the competitions - building wooden bridges and testing their strenght. I think it is both for middle and high schools, isn't it? Looked interesting!

Hi Ania,

Yes, science olympiad has both middle and high school divisions. The events are slightly different between the two. I think it's a wonderful competition and very beneficial to the kids on many levels.

Cym