Central Magnet in the high school division and St. Rose of Lima in the middle school category are scheduled to return to defend their respective titles at the 24th Regional Science Olympiad at MTSU from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 23.
Nearly 500 students and their teams will compete to earn berths in the State Science Olympiad Saturday, April 6, on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus.
There will be 23 events in both middle school and high school divisions throughout the day at the regional. With exceptions, most of the events will take place in the Science Building, Davis Science Building and Wiser-Patten Science Hall.
Middle schools registered to compete include Blackman, Central Magnet, Christiana, Davidson County homeschool, Dayspring Academy, La Vergne, Providence Christian Academy, Rockvale, Rocky Fork, St. Rose of Lima and Smyrna Middle.
High schools registered to compete include Blackman, Central Magnet, Davidson County homeschool, Donelson Christian Academy, Father Ryan, Franklin, Page, Riverdale, Shelbyville, Smyrna, Stewarts Creek and Tullahoma.
A number of schools will be sending more than one team in the respective divisions.
Highschool events will include “Designer Genes,” “Disease Detective,” “Code Busters” and “Sounds of Music.”
Middle school events will include “Potions and Poisons,” “Dynamic Planet,” “Battery and Buggy” and “Meteorology.”
In 2018, Central Magnet, Smyrna, Stewarts Creek and Shelbyville Central were the top four high school teams.
St. Rose, Weekday Eastside Bridge, Central Magnet and Rockvale were the top four middle schools last year.
Some events are offered to both divisions.
MTSU faculty and students volunteer to help in the various events. State Farm is a major sponsor of the Regional and Elementary Science Olympiads. The College of Basic and Applied Sciences also contributes to the effort.
“State Farm contributed $3,000 to teams registered to compete at MTSU,” said Pat Patterson, an MTSU chemistry professor and director of the Regional Science Olympiad.
State Farm agents Dana Womack and Michael Busey plan to attend, helping hand out medals and trophies. The awards are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in McWherter Learning Resources Center Room 221.
Founded in 1984, Science Olympiad provides meticulous, standards-based challenges to 7,800 teams in all 50 states.
For more information about the Elementary and Regional Science Olympiads, call Patterson at 615-898-5085. The Elementary Science Olympiad will be held later in the spring.
MTSU has more than 300 combined undergraduate and graduate programs.