Grand Valley celebrates 20 years of hosting Science Olympiad

More than 1,800 middle school, junior high and high school students along with coaches, judges, parents, and volunteers will converge on Grand Valley's Allendale campus for the Region 12 Science Olympiad Tournament. Along with the student competition, special events will be taking place this year, as Grand Valley celebrates its 20th anniversary hosting the tournament.

'We at Grand Valley are actively engaged in Science and Mathematics education at all levels,' said P. Douglas Kindschi, dean of Science and Mathematics at Grand Valley. 'Thousands of students have been involved in our program, many are motivated to go on in the Mathematics and Science fields, often at Grand Valley. Teams from our Region are most often state winners and for at least four years have become national champions.'

The Michigan Science Olympiad Region 12 Tournament takes place Saturday, March 27, at the GVSU Fieldhouse, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year's all-day competition includes 54 teams from area junior high and middle schools, and 28 high school teams from Kent and Ottawa counties.

Special 20th anniversary features include:

2:30 p.m. An informal reception for event supervisors and special guests

3:15 p.m. Recognition of long-standing GVSU and community volunteers, followed by a chemistry and physics demonstration extravaganza

4:30 p.m. Awards ceremony

Competitive events open to the public include the Naked Egg Drop, Wright Stuff, Mission Possible, Robot Ramble, Tower and Bridge Building, Robo Billiards, Wheeled Vehicle and Storm the Castle. New events this year are Naked Egg Drop and Storm the Castle. In the Naked Egg Drop event, students will build on-site egg catchers and then drop raw eggs from ever greater heights until the egg breaks. In Storm the Castle, students build and calibrate a trebuchet and then attempt to hit a target using counterweight and projectiles provided by the judges.