Latin School of Chicago

Middle School Science Olympiad For the 14th year this April, Latin���s middle school Science Olympiad team competed in the state championship at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Latin came in seventh, solidifying its position as one of the state���s top 10 Science Olympiad teams. This is an impressive feat considering the large-scale requirements of a successful Science Olympiad program, which must include a sufficient number of coaches to work with students on the 23 events that are part of the competition and time in the schedule to give each member of the varsity team enough practice hours to be proficient in at least three events. ���Every year arriving at state is a wake-up call for us,��� says Matt Casey, who organizes the program with middle school science teachers Beth Manning and Juliana Reese-Clauson. ���Our competitors are some of the largest and most successful public schools in the state. For those students, Science Olympiad is the one thing they focus on. It is the only activity they do outside of school. Latin is very different. Our kids are encouraged to explore. They dabble. So, it is just one of the activities they are involved in.��� Still, Science Olympiad works at Latin. The school has cobbled together a dedicated network of coaches including middle and upper school science and non-science faculty, parents and even parents of alumni. Meanwhile, the 30-plus students who participate in a given year carve out the time each week for practices. Everyone who is involved is enthusiastic and committed. Why is Science Olympiad thriving here? Casey reasons that the program offers something for every kind of student. There are the concrete thinkers who love the challenge of absorbing and memorizing advanced-level science content. There are ���the tinkerers��� who may not be the top students but are skilled problem solvers and like designing things like catapults, bottle rockets or robots. And, there are those who have an interest in a particular topic such as fossils or birds. Typically, though, Science Olympians are students who simply love science. They excel in their classes and are eager for more challenges. While competition is a big part of Science Olympiad, says Casey, ���Our philosophy has always been that it is not about winning. This is a program that allows our kids to explore their interests and passions in science and just have fun.��� The program is split into three major types of competition: Building Events, in which students design and construct a variety of contraptions and structures that are required to solve a particular problem; Testing Events, in which students are tested on their knowledge about certain topics such as anatomy, ecology or the solar system; and Lab Events, which involve experiments and analyses. Since there are only a limited number of actual competitions in a year, students spend most of their practices working with coaches on hands-on activities in preparation. On a given day kids can be seen testing out the buggies they have built for the Battery Buggy competition, putting together an electrical circuit for the Shock Value event or interpreting maps for the Road Scholar event. However, the significance of Science Olympiad goes beyond competition and practice; it supports Latin���s overall approach to science. Cooperative learning, integrated use of technology, project-based work, problem solving and critical thinking are all part of the experience. ���Kids in Science Olympiad have real opportunities to think like scientists,��� says Casey. ���They don���t only ingest chunks of content, they also learn to analyze and interpret,��� skills that are at the core of creating strong science students for high school and beyond. Science Olympians are students who simply love science. They excel in their classes and are eager for more challenges. Latin School of Chicago 29

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