The MUS Lower School Blog

Meetings called for Red and Blue Science Olympiad teams

Red Team: Plan on meeting with Mrs. Sowell Tuesday afternoon @ 3:20 in her office, Room 109, in the Science Building.  She has put together a list based on what event you requested, and she needs to confirm before you start meeting with teachers.  YOU MUST ATTEND this meeting.  No excuses.

Blue Team: Plan on meeting with Mrs. Sowell Wednesday afternoon @ 2:20 in her office, Room 109, in the Science Building. She has put together a list based on what event you requested, and she needs to confirm before you start meeting with teachers.  YOU MUST ATTEND this meeting.  No excuses.

She blinded them with science

Good heavens, Mrs. Sowell... you're beautiful. Even you, Mr. Mullins. As we sit and surf, Science Olympiad is gearing up for another season of intense academic competition.  The regional competition will be held at CBU on Saturday, February 20, 2010.  Any student who wants to participate will need to available to compete that day.  Also, students should understand that everyone on the team must compete in more than one activity because we only have 15 students to fill 40+ “competition spots.”   So far, the guys are excited about another year of Science Olympiad, and the teachers in the science department are also.  We’re definitely looking forward to working with the students again on this.  If your son is participating in the Olympiad and you have any questions, please email Mrs. Sowell: Analice.Sowell@musowls.org or Mr. Mullins: Wayne.Mullins@musowls.org.

You go, Mrs. Sowell!  

Science Olympiad competes at State

From Mr. Wayne Mullins: I wanted to pass a long a detailed description of results. My goals for our team’s first encounter at the state Science Olympiad level were to finish above last place out of 18 teams and to win at least three medals out of 23 different events. This is about all you can expect for first year students. We took 15 students to Knoxville last Friday for an “all day Saturday” tournament. Memphis-area schools are particularly challenged as a result of the driving time and distance as we lose an hour to the Eastern Time Zone.

Final results will not be posted until Wednesday, but I feel very confident that we finished in the middle third of the 18 schools from division B (grades 7-9). The director at UT, Knoxville handed out medals for the top six places at state level. We brought home seven medals in the following events:

First place in the state in Scrambler, an engineering event that launches a car towards a wall with a raw egg mounted on the nose. The goal is to get as close to wall as possible in the shortest time without hitting the wall. Ben Taylor and Francis Carlota were supported on weekends by Harold and Carol Taylor.

Second Place in the state in Ecology. Our student’s had help from Mrs. Lawrence. Several students in multiple events commented about positive experiences from 7^th grade Life Science this year. William Lamb and Francis Carlota earned silver medals in this event.

Third place in Trajectory, another engineering event that launches a ball using a catapult device was accomplished by Ben Taylor and Michael Green. They were supported by working with Harold and Carol Taylor, Ben’s parents and some work before regional competition by Amit Shah.

Fifth Place in the state in Bio-Process Lab was captured by Michael Green and Drew Hutson. Their success was due almost exclusively to the lab experiences in biology classes offered by Coach Taylor and Dr. Schwartz. This award is a great external reflection of the quality of their lab experiences.

Fifth Place in the state in Dynamic Planet was awarded to Andrew Renshaw and Srujan Jampana. Their experiences in 7^th grade Earth Science and several after-school meetings with Coach Beck were the source of their success.

Fifth Place in the state in Bridge Building was awarded to Jake Eissler and Ben Taylor. Mrs. Lawrence spent several Saturdays on campus with Jake while Ben was over in the gym calibrating trajectory and scrambler devices. Jake’s father discovered at the beginning of Lacrosse season how much he could help with several events. He did show Jake how to bend wood into arches with steam and promised to be more involved with multiple events next year.

Sixth Place in the state in Road Scholar was awarded to Andrew Renshaw and Thornton Brooksbank. Their success at reading and geometrical analysis of maps was based on experiences in 7^th grade Earth Science and meetings with Coach Beck after school.

The overall success on Saturday could not have been accomplished without the hard work throughout the entire day by Harold and Carol Taylor and Cheri Hutson. They brought their own vehicles, paid for their own gas, food and hotel accommodations while carrying luggage and equipment from Memphis to Knoxville and back.

I knew the potential for success was great at MUS. I had no idea we could have a beginning that would turn out to be this strong. Many schools are now looking over their shoulders with concern about MUS and Science Olympiad.

 

Permission Slip required for Science Olympiad trip

Please download, print, and return Download Science Olympiad Permission Slip if you are interested in your son being considered for the combined science team heading to Knoxville for Science Olympiad state finals competition the weekend of March 27. The trip is intended for those who have participated all along in Science Olympiad.

Science Olympiad a success

Coach Wayne Mullins reports from Saturday's Science Olympiad:

For those of you who are curious, MUS picked up 50% of all medals awarded on Saturday. See results: Download Science Olympiad 2009.

For our first year out I am really impressed with what we have accomplished.

Results- Our teams finished second and fourth place. By coming in second we get to send a team to state competition in Knoxville at end of March.

We earned 27 medals with the breakdown as Gold Medal or First Place was earned in 5 of 18 events. In other words we won 28% of the first place medals.

Second Place or Silver Medal was earned in 12 of 18 events for 67% of second place medals.

Bronze Medal or Third Place was earned in 10 of 18 events for 56% of third place medals.

I am attaching individual names of winners for each event and a reproduction of the CBU spreadsheet so that all can see how scoring goes.

I would like to thank all of the teachers and coaches who took personal time to work with our students, and our momentum should carry us farther as we prepare for next year's Science Olympiad.

 

Science Olympiad is finally here!

From Mrs. Sowell: Science Olympiad is TOMORROW!  (Saturday, February 28^th).  All team members should meet at Christian Brothers University (notice the clear skies) by 7:45 a.m.  All morning events will be completed by 12:30 p.m., so unless you parents want to come back for the awards ceremony around 2:00 p.m., you are welcome to take your son home.  Everyone should meet in the Central Avenue parking lot by 7:45 a.m., and in case of rain, everyone will meet under the opening to the Cooper-Wilson Science Center.  Here is a link to the campus map. Current Science Olympiad Team members have a sheet, given to them today, which lists the student’s event, time, and location.

Science Olympiad notes

Thanks to those of you who attended last night's Science Olympiad meeting on campus. Here are the notes for your records: Download parent_meeting_summary.pdf, and the link to the official Science Olympiad website is now on the left column under "Useful Links."

Science Olympiad parent meeting reminder

***Reminder***To those whose sons have submitted an application for the 2008-09 MUS Lower School Science Olympiad teams: We are having an informational meeting tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Wunderlich Auditorium in the MUS Campus Center. At this meeting, we will answer all your Science Olympiad questions including time commitments, competition requirements, events, and how parents can contribute to our success. 

Please let us know if you plan to attend the meeting. Email wayne.mullins@musowls.org for your RSVP. Refreshments will be provided. We look forward to meeting you!

 

More concerning Science Olympiad

Mrs. Sowell and Mr. Mullins invite your questions via email: analice.sowell@musowls.org and wayne.mullins@musowls.org . Applications are due September 19 by the end of the school day.

The Parent Meeting is scheduled for September 16, 2008 from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Wunderlich Auditorium of the MUS Campus Center. We suggest that you email the science teachers if you plan on attending so we can get a head count and decide on refreshments.

The teachers are working on a Q + A sheet which I will post soon.

Please encourage your sons to apply.

Announcing Science Olympiad

It's official! We are now assembling our Lower School team to compete in the Science Olympiad. This file Download ScienceOlympiadTeamBApplication.pdf should be filled out and returned to the office for your son to apply. MUS Science Department faculty Mrs. Analice Sowell and Mr. Wayne Mullins have initiated the effort, and if history is any indication, our boys are in for a real treat. Mr. Mullins represented the Alabama high school Science Olympiad state champs recently, and combined with Mrs. Sowell's experience as the former event coordinator of Metric Mastery at Christian Brothers University, our boys will have excellent leadership, knowledge, and support as they represent MUS' first Lower School team in this most prestigious competition.

Encourage your son to apply. He need not be a budding science genius. However, he does require passion for one or more of the categories. He may not yet realize his inner ability to command some mastery, so we want to set the table, as it were, as we build a competitive team. Stay tuned. Apply today!