On Saturday, my family spent most of the day at the Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad at Pioneer High School. Science Olympiad is a program for students in grades 2-5 where they compete for their school in a variety of events. Participating schools include public schools, charter schools, and private schools from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Dexter, and more. There were 12 events for the second and third graders 14 for the fourth and fifth graders. Events included aerodynamics (aka paper airplanes – my daughter’s favorite), feathered friends, disease detective, circuit wizardry, potions, and water rockets.
Each grade competed at different times of the day with the second graders starting at 8a and the fifth graders competing until 8p. The competition for each grade concluded with an awards ceremony where medals were given out for first through fifth place plus four medals for honorable mention in each event.
We had a great time at Science Olympiad. One thing that I love about Science Olympiad is that it brings together people from around town to the same place and time. I love running into people that we know from various places – playgroups, preschool, colleagues, etc. The best comment that I overheard all day was “Didn’t I do jury duty with you?” Ann Arbor truly is a small town in some ways. Unfortunately it was a warm day, so the cafeteria where the teams gathered and the gym where the awards ceremonies were held were quite warm. Also, the weather did not cooperate for the water rockets competition. Only the third graders were able to complete their competition. The fourth and fifth graders are awaiting information on rescheduling their competition.
In addition to the competitions several local groups had activities for the kids between their events. Activities were setup in the cafeteria annex and in the hallway between the cafeteria and the gym. I was head coach at my daughter’s school, so I was busy making sure the kids made it to and from their events so I didn’t have time to browse the open events like last year when I was “just a parent”.
I want to send a huge thank you out to all of the volunteers that made the event possible…the Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad board, the event supervisors, the head coaches, the event coaches, and all of the day of volunteers.
My daughter had a great time at Science Olympiad. She is already planning for next year by asking what events are available for fourth graders.
