.Education

This weekend, over 2,500 future scientists, engineers and ecologists throughout North Carolina are gathering in Raleigh for the North Carolina Science Olympiad (www.sciencenc.com).  These students represent over 150 schools throughout the state and have been selected from a larger pool of 7,000 students who competed at the local and regional level.  From ecology to electric vehicles, the students will compete in a hands-on, competitive set of events judged on results, scientific methods and engagement.  In addition to being a tangible demonstration of North Carolina’s leadership in STEM education, it is also a fun, engaging event which draws leaders from the government, education and non-profit sectors.

NCSO Executive Director, Jason Painter, joins me to discuss the Science Olympiad’s past, present and future.

SCHMEDLEN: Hello, Jason, thank you very much for taking the time.  How was the North Carolina Science Olympiad started?

PAINTER: The North Carolina Science Olympiad was started before my time. In fact, it has been around in various forms for 25 years now. I am standing on the shoulders of giants before me that used to do what I do for free.  They’d load up everything in a pick-up truck and go from school to school telling teachers about Olympiad.  Before long, it grew to a point where 3 or 4 individuals were spending all their free time running the North Carolina Science Olympiad.  Their grassroots effort produced what we have today in North Carolina.  They were assisted by the National Organization as we both grew together, and we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary.

SCHMEDLEN: What type of projects and competitions will be featured at the NSCO?

PAINTER: Engaging science: The NCSO boast 46 different events covering every area of science.  Students can build robots, airplanes, and bridges or solve mystery crimes in our Forensics event.  We also blast rockets that must protect a raw egg and save the planet by investigating alternative forms of energy.  Students can compete in engineering events as well as laboratory-based events.  Any area of science a student may be interested in can be found in the Science Olympiad.

SCHMEDLEN: Are there any competitive scholarships available?

PAINTER: Yes!  North Carolina State University offers a $2500 scholarship for every gold medal winner at the State Competition.  Since there are 46 events and two members on each team per event, that is close to 100 scholarship being awarded to students that choose to come to NC State for their college degree.

SCHMEDLEN: Will NCSO be encouraging the use of any social media to keep the public up to date during the event?

PAINTER: Yes.  We are encouraging participants to be involved in the new media. We hope they will twitter about their experience during the tournament and upload pics from the day. We want all participants to use the HASH/METATAG “NCSO2009” whenever they post anything via a social media tool.

SCHMEDLEN: Why is the Olympiad important to North Carolina?

PAINTER: It is important because most of these students will be getting jobs in technologies that haven’t event been created yet.  Our students need to learnhow to critically think, problem solve, and learn how to go about answering tough questions.  The Olympiad is unique in that it make students think on their feet, defend their work, and solve problems that they otherwise never would have thought about.  For example, how can we build a fan blade out of paper to generate the most energy from the wind?  This may seem simple, but most students go through school only having to memorize and regurgitate information.  In Olympiad, students must understand and apply what they know.

SCHMEDLEN: Do you see STEM education helping enhance 21st century skills like collaboration, contextualization or “life skills?”

PAINTER: Absolutely!  However, “school science” must change to meet the demands of these 21st century skills.  STEM education will fail if it doesn’t adapt to 21st century knowledge, technology, and skill sets.  Students must do science and be involved in the culture of science through collaboration to give them a contextual understanding of these life skills.  Without this, students will be far behind their counterparts in other parts of the world.

SCHMEDLEN: What does the future hold for the competition?

PAINTER: The future is bright.  More and more schools, teachers, parents, and stakeholders are seeing the impact of Olympiad on students.  I got an e-mail last week from a parent of a student that participated in our summer camps this past summer.  I think this e-mail describes well the value of Olympiad and why our future looks promising.

“Sorry I’m writing to you so late in the year.  I wanted you to know that Ethan had an incredible experience at your camp last year.  He was always interested in science, but wasn’t a “star student”.  Through your camp he was able to transfer his “lego” skills to solving other problems.  He won 1st place in one event!  With this boast of confidence, I am happy to say he has had an outstanding year in science.  Making straight A’s and usually making A+s.  Ethan is a smart kid, but he has to work hard for his grades.  He really put forth the effort and enjoyed science this year.  I have Science Olympiad to thank for his new confidence and passion.”

SCHMEDLEN: Jason, thank you, and good luck this weekend!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 9:39 am and is filed under Innovation, Interviews, STEM, The Sciences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.