Area schools to compete in Science Olympiad at Goshen College, Feb. 13

Event: Indiana Science Olympiad Regional Tournament at Goshen College
Date and time: Saturday, Feb. 13, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Eighteen area Science Olympiad teams will be at Goshen College on Saturday, Feb. 13 to compete in one of the nine regional Indiana Science Olympiad competitions. They will be competing for a spot in the state, and possibly national, competition.

Modeled after the Olympics, the competition will give participants the opportunity to compete in more than 30 contests organized around themes in science — ranging from astronomy to ecology, forensics to physics — and scores will be given for each project. Students will demonstrate their knowledge of sound scientific techniques while building bridges and mouse-trap vehicles, dropping eggs and exploring cell biology.

Three middle school teams and two high school teams will advance to the state tournament at Indiana University's Bloomington campus on March 20. One more team in each division will be invited to a wildcard tournament on March 6 at Ivy Tech in Lafayette with another chance to qualify for the state tournament.

Volunteers, including 18 Goshen College faculty/staff and about 70 students, will oversee and judge each contest.

Registration for both middle schools and high schools is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. in the College Mennonite Church lobby. An 8:15 a.m. welcome ceremony follows registration in the Church-Chapel, with the first event's kick-off at 9 a.m. The day ends with a 3:15 p.m. awards ceremony. The Science Olympiad opening and awards ceremonies are open to the community, but some competitions are closed to observers. The competitions will take place in Goshen College's Music Center, Recreation-Fitness Center, Union Building, Wyse Hall and Science Building.

Participating will be the following 10 middle schools: Northridge Middle School, Bethany Christian Middle School, Indian Springs Middle School, Manchester Junior High School, Pierre Moran Middle School, St. Pius X Catholic School, Stanley Clark Middle School, LaSalle Academy, Marshall Intermediate Center and Imagine MASTer Academy. The six high schools are: Northridge High School (with two teams), Bethany Christian High School, LaPorte High School, Mishawaka High School, La Lumiere High School (with two teams) and Goshen High School.

The Goshen College Indiana Science Olympiad is supported by D-J Construction Company, Goshen, Zimmer, Inc., Warsaw (Dover, Ohio), Bayer Healthcare LLC, Mishawaka and Biomet Inc., Warsaw.

The Science Olympiad began in 1983 and involves more than 12,000 schools nationally. For more information and a schedule for the day's events, contact Goshen College Associate Professor of Biology Jody Saylor at (574) 535-7306 or visit www.goshen.edu/bio/SciOlymp/GCSciOly.html.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.