Two North Dakota teams competed in the National Science Olympiad tournament at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln May 16. The state tournament for North Dakota was held at NDSU.
Teams from Bismarck High School, coached by Ryan Bleth, and Wachter Middle School, coached by Benjamin Schiermeister advanced to the national tournament.
Science Olympiad is a team extra-curricular activity consisting of a high school and a middle school division. Students learn in-depth concepts in a fun, hands-on way during their practices. They learn problem-solving skills and concepts related to real-life careers in science. Much like a sports team, Science Olympiad teams have scheduled practices, participate in regional and state tournaments, and attempt to qualify for the nationals.
The tournaments consist of 23 events each at the high school level and middle school levels. At regional, state and national tournaments there are a maximum of 15 high school or middle school students per team.
The state tournament at NDSU attracted more than 700 students and coaches. Regional tournaments were held at Bismarck State College, Dickinson State University, Minot State University, Dakota College at Bottineau and Valley City State University. In total, there were 68 middle school teams and 69 high school teams that participated in this year’s regional tournaments statewide.
“I am proud to say that North Dakota is in the top third for number of participants in Science Olympiad across the country," said Otto Borchert, NDSU computer science programmer analyst and state tournament co-director.
For more information, to volunteer, start a team or sponsor a team for the Science Olympiad in North Dakota go to www.ndsu.edu/olympiad/ or email otto.borchert@ndsu.edu or guy.hokanson@ndsu.edu.
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