Kutztown University to host Berks County Science Olympiad

Kutztown University will host the Berks County Science Olympiad on Thursday, Jan. 11. Registration begins at 8 a.m. in the McFarland Student Union (MSU). A meeting, including all the participants, will be held in the MSU multipurpose room at 8:20 a.m., followed by the competition at 8:40 a.m. at various locations on campus. The competition will conclude with an awards ceremony at approximately 2 p.m. in the MSU.

In case of inclement weather the event will take place Friday, Jan. 12.

Nearly 350 students will take part in this year’s event. The schools participating in the competition include: Antietam, Bayard Rustin (West Chester), Berks Catholic, Boyertown, Central York, Conrad Weiser, Exeter, Fleetwood, Governor Mifflin, Hamburg, Henderson (West Chester), Kutztown, Reading, Schuylkill Valley, Sun Valley, Twin Valley, West Chester East, Wilson and Wyomissing area.

In its 34th year, the Science Olympiad is an international nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of K-12 science education, creating a passion for learning science and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. These goals are accomplished through classroom activities, research, professional development workshops and the encouragement of intramural, district, regional, state, national and international tournaments.

The Olympiad is organized by schools at the junior high and senior high levels. Each school sends one team to compete in a variety of events. High school teachers serve as the coaches, judges, and coordinators.

Olympiad competitions are conducted at four levels - local, regional, state, and national. The local competition is designed to prepare students for regional competition. No teams are eliminated in the local competition.

KU will host the regional competition in March with more than 675 students from 41 schools participating.

The official website of the International Science Olympiad is <http://www. soinc.org>.