Olympiad brings medals, fun and science to Goshen College on Feb. 17

GOSHEN, Ind. – Twenty-four Northern Indiana middle school and high school teams will arrive at Goshen College on Saturday, Feb. 17 for one of nine regional tournaments in the Indiana Science Olympiad. They will seek a shot at state competition, and possibly national recognition.

Thirty competitions organized around different themes in science – ranging from astronomy to meteorology, forensics to physics – will be conducted, and scores will be awarded to each project. In addition to the fun of building and testing bridges, dropping eggs, blasting off bottle rockets and flying rubber band airplanes, solving crime puzzles and creating homemade battery-operated vehicles, the competitors will learn about and demonstrate sound scientific techniques.

Victory will not come easy, as more than 300 students will be competing for only three spots in both levels – middle school and high school – that will allow them to proceed to the state competition at Purdue Calumet (Hammond) on March 31. The top candidate’s from the state tournament will proceed to the national competition, May 18-19 at Wichita (Kan.) State University.

In the interest of time, the middle school and high school student participants will have their hands-on projects built and assembled prior to the competition. Noting the benefit to students when they are able to combine competitive science knowledge with fun and creativity, Goshen College Professor of Biology and Science Olympiad coordinator Stan Grove said that he “hopes schools include more and more (hands-on) activities” in their classrooms.

Volunteers will oversee and judge event competitions; coordinators will include Goshen College students, professors and community personnel who work in science fields.

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 events kick-off at 9 a.m. and the day ends with a 3:15 p.m. awards ceremony. The Science Olympiad competitions and awards ceremony are open to the community, and 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 12 middle schools: Bethany Christian Middle School, Boston Middle School, Goshen Middle School, Heritage Middle School, Indian Springs Middle School, Jefferson Intermediate Center, LaSalle Intermediate Academy, LaVille Junior High School, Manchester Junior High School, Marshall Intermediate Center, Pierre Moran Middle School and Stanley Clark Middle School. The 12 high schools are: Bethany Christian High School, Clay High School, Columbia City High School, Goshen High School, John Adams High School, La Lumiere School, LaVille Senior High School, Mishawaka High School, Northridge High School, Plymouth High School, Riley High School and Warsaw Community High School.

The Goshen College Indiana Science Olympiad is supported by a number of corporate sponsors, including Bayer Health Care of Elkhart, Biomet of Warsaw, D-J Construction of Goshen and Zimmer, Inc. of 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 Grove at (574) 535-7320 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.

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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.