NEWS

Middle and high schools from around the state of South Carolina are working on their preparation for the 30th annual South Carolina Science Olympiad competitions to be held on the Newberry College campus. The middle school competition (Division B) will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2014, while the high school competition (Division C) will be held on Saturday March 22.

Science Olympiad is an international nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. The Science Olympiad program hopes to bring academic competition to the same level of recognition and praise normally reserved for athletic competition. The tournaments are rigorous academic interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of individual and team events which students prepare for throughout the year. These challenging and motivational events are well balanced between the various science disciplines of biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers, and technology. The 2014 competition includes such events as Boomilever, Rotor Egg Drop, Metric Mastery, Rocks and Minerals, Forensics, Circuit Lab, and Experimental Design. Olympic-style medals are awarded to the top four individual places in each event, and team scores are tabulated in order to award an overall state champion. The winning schools in each division will go on to represent South Carolina at the National Science Olympiad competition to be held May 16-17 in Orlando, FL.

Newberry College has been the proud host of the South Carolina Science Olympiad since its inception. On competition day, events will be held in the Science and Math Building, Eleazer Arena, and MacLean Gym on the Newberry College campus. The events in the gyms will take place from 10am-3pm and are open to the public. In addition, the public is invited to the Opening Ceremonies at 9:30am, as well as the Awards Ceremony at 4:00pm, both in Newberry Colleges Wiles Chapel.

In 2013, Newberry College began awarding scholarships to South Carolina Science Olympiad event winners.

The winning students in each of the 20 different events at this years Division C competition will receive $2000 scholarships to Newberry College. These awards are stackable from year to year, up to a maximum award of $10,000.

This year, the South Carolina Science Olympiad program is proud to welcome Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, which joins Newberry College as a major sponsor. This sponsorship will provide much needed assistance to offset travel costs associated with the Science Olympiad program. We are excited about the financial support provided to the Science Olympiad program by PMPA said Bret Clark, Director of the South Carolina Science Olympiad. Their sponsorship will provide funding to allow me to visit schools and conventions around the state in order to better publicize our program, and it will also provide much needed assistance with the necessary travel costs incurred as our state winners move on to the national competition.

For more information, contact Bret Clark, Director of the South Carolina Science Olympiad, at 321-5255 or bret.clark@newberry.edu.