Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy

We are in the final countdown for our trip to the National Science Olympiad competition. YEA!!! Yesterday ScienceKid put the Storm the Castle data into Excel, made graphs, and did his little write-up as required by the rules to explain how he would use the graphs for a hypothetical counterweight and projectile. He also met with a Biology teacher and went over heredity stuff, again. He reviewed rocks and minerals information but he does need to gather a few more details for his notebook. This is one of the few study events where the kids are permitted to take a notebook in with them. However, at State’s SK told us afterwards that there was no time to use the notebook since there were 25 stations to visit for 2 minutes a piece. You had to just know the rocks and minerals right off the top of your head. Finally last evening we had our team meeting; shirts were passed out, travel plans shared, and the kids divided the items for the swap meet. Whew; just a few more things to do such as DH’s laundry which can’t wait but the house cleaning can wait. Both kids are ready to go into their events, for sure!

This morning ScienceKid and I ran Mission Possible through about 3 or 4 dozen times. I was there more for moral support then anything else. Doing important mom things such as agreeing with him that he has given this event all he can give it. He is so very ready to be done with Mission Possible. It is THE event he took because he felt it was his duty; because he was the only team member with any experience doing MP, and because no one else on the team wanted it. It is a build event that just sucks up time; big time chunks. I can’t count the number of hours SK has spent either alone, or with his 2 partners working the bugs out of this complex machine. But mostly alone, trying to figure out how to make sure that the screw turns every single time so that the next simple machine is triggered…… The catch for Nationals is that the kids do not know the required operating time for the machine until after they impound it, and they are only permitted to adjust one machine, the sand timer, to obtain the required operating time. Hit the OOT at Nationals and you can bet they should be on the medal stand (places 1 - 6), miss the OOT and…… oh well. Let’s not think about that.

If you are interested in catching a bit of the National Science Olympiad it is being broadcast, both the opening ceremony and the Award Ceremony will be on webcasting. SK will be one of four Tri-State team members to carry our Delaware state flag and team banner across the stage during the opening ceremony. The Opening Ceremony is Friday, May 18th, 6:00 central time, 7:00 est

The Award Ceremony is Saturday, May 19th, 6:30 central time, 7:30 est B-Division

This is from NSO:

Webcasting: We will be webcasting both the Opening Ceremonies and Awards Ceremonies. To receive the webcast, you will need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or above. The website is www.shockervision.tv. Scroll down through all the ball games till you find the Science Olympiad site. We will go live approximately 10 minutes before the start of the ceremonies. This will be a free service. You will not need to set up an account before viewing.

ps—Yes, I am more than a bit nervous.  Both boys in the NSO competition, knowing that so much effort has gone into preparations, knowing that this year was such a very long shot for us to go to the NSO, and knowing that ScienceKid’s High School Team will not go to NSO makes this trip extra-special, and gets me extra-nervous.