November 2023

This newsletter contains news and information of interest to Montana Science Olympiad coaches - current, past and future. For questions, please contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center.

Join us Nov. 9 for coach office hours at 4pm

New, veteran and prospective coaches are invited to join the Montana Science Olympiad staff online from 4pm to 5pm on Thursday, Nov. 9 for monthly coaches' office hours. You can drop in anytime during the hour to ask questions about the upcoming season, get help with a particular situation, or just hang out with the Montana Science Olympiad staff.

Find the WebEx link on our School Teams and Coaches Page

Future Coach Office Hours

Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 4pm

Tuesday, January 16 at 4pm

If you have any questions, email mtscioly@montana.edu

Missed the coaches' kickoff Oct. 25? Watch it here

New to Science Olympiad? Check out our Getting Started page

Announcing - Agricultural Science trial event at the Montana 2024 tournament

HOT OFF THE PRESS! In addition to the 14 events in Division B and in Division C, we will be running a TRIAL EVENT called Agricultural Sciences (theme: Plants), and it will be hosted by MSU's own Ag Ambassadors (that's them pictured at right). Trial events are up-and-coming events that are not yet part of the full rotation of official events Students CAN earn medals, but points for the event do NOT count toward the overall team trophies. (Read more about Trial Events here).

Agricultural Science is a cool event because it involves doing an experiment ahead of time; sharing your findings with the event supervisors via a scientific notebook; and testing your knowledge on competition day. Pick out your team members who love agriculture and plants!

You can find the rules for the Agricultural Sciences Trial Event in the "Trial Event" section of both Division B and Division C Rules Manuals.

Helpful resource: SO TV

The Science Olympiad TV YouTube page has new videos for 2024 developed by National Event Supervisors for events like Tower and Wheeled Vehicle, plus Workshop Wednesday recordings, including the Oct. 18 Making Your Season Great kickoff presentation. Be sure to share this resource with your students!

National workshop Nov. 30: Forestry

Thursday, November 30, 4pm MT, the National Science Olympiad hosts Thinking Thursday with the US Forest Service! The US Forest Service and Science Olympiad Forestry experts will be answering your questions about trees, the key role they play in the environment, and how to get ready for this year’s event.

You can submit questions to be answered at this webinar at Thinking Thursday Questions Before you attend this webinar, we would encourage to you to watch this recording from a previous Workshop Wednesday on Forestry that featured the US Forest Service.

Learn more on the Science Olympiad workshops page where you can also find recordings of past workshops.

Science Olympiad student club launches at MSU

If any of your former competitors are now students at MSU, please tell them to check out the new Montana Science Olympiad student club! The purpose of the club is to bring together former Science Olympiad participants and any student interested in STEM with the goal of encouraging members to be involved in the Science Olympiad program at MSU. Members will assist Event Supervisors in test making, building apparatuses, assisting the directors in event-day preparation, and/or volunteering on the day of the event. The club will also include social events so members can meet one another!

Learn more on the MSU student club page or encourage your Science Olympiad alumni at MSU to email Club President Addie Rohlman.

Reminders and important links

This year's tournament is hosted at MSU on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Registration deadline is Feb. 3, but we encourage you to register as soon as you know you will be coming to the state tournament.

Montana events for both Division B and Division C are now posted on the Science Olympiad website along with links to download this year's rules manuals.

STEM Fun Night will be hosted at the Museum of the Rockies on Thursday evening April 18, and is free to any registered Science Olympiad team.

We look forward to staying in touch throughout the year and seeing you and your team at MSU this spring. Enjoy the season, and please contact us if you have any questions: mtscioly@montana.edu.

Do you know an aspiring Science Olympiad coach or STEM teacher interested in cool opportunities? Please share this newsletter so they can join in. Or, they can subscribe at bit.ly/mtso-newsletter