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XYZ School Science Olympiad 2009 – 2010

Team Guidelines, Rules & Agreement

Congratulations! We are excited to begin a new year of Science Olympiad. From 85 applicants, you are a part of XYZ Team’s 32 student team for 2010. The science knowledge that this year’s team has is astounding and we are confident this will be XYZ’s best year ever! We fully expect that each one of you will be competing at our Invitational and Regional competitions, but for the State and, hopefully, National tournament, we can only have 15 students competing.

In order to have a great year, we have high expectations for dedicated and responsible efforts from students and coaches. We will also need a few dedicated parent event mentors. This contract is provided to establish rules and guidelines for the team so that expectations are clear, time spent is productive, and we all have fun…and are rewarded with success!

Study Sessions

After school study sessions will begin the week of October 26th. Ms A’s room will be our team room, and will be available at a minimum on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Our current plan is for Wednesday sessions to be mandatory for all students and each student must also attend at least one other day to meet a minimum of 2 after school study sessions per week. If you are sick or cannot make a day you are expected to be at a study session, please notify one of your coaches via email (…) and also indicate whether we need to inform an event partner that you will not be there to work with him or her. Prior to tournaments, we will increase the expectations for time spent through either additional days or longer sessions after school. Once event pairings are announced, you are responsible to schedule study sessions each week with each of your event partners. If this coordination does not occur, the coaches will assign study times to pairs of students. You have a responsibility to let one of your coaches know if you are having trouble coordinating study time with any of your partners. Do not wait until it becomes a problem to ask them for help. Coaches can be notified via email or in person.

NOTE: Two after school study session is a MINIMIUM requirement. In order to be successful, however, you should schedule an additional 3 hours per week, at least, to work on your events, either alone or with your partners. Some of this time will necessarily be at home so the best way to not let this slip is to give yourself a day of the week and time that you will work on each event every week outside of school. On every other Wednesday evening and Sunday morning we will be able to access one of the gyms at the school to work on engineering events if you need more time than provided immediately after school.

Study Session Locations

Everyone should meet in Ms. A’s room and sign in. Industrial Arts equipment may only be used with Ms. A’s supervision. You will need to use appropriate safety measures and equipment and will be provided a handout to read, understand, and sign to indicate your understanding and compliance with necessary safe practices. Mrs Z’s room will also be available for quiet study and research using computers. If you leave Ms A’s room to go to Mrs Z’s room you must sign out and indicate where you are going. There will be another sign in/out sheet in Mrs Z’s room. You must use the sign in/out logs whenever you leave the room except at the end of the session, including going to another classroom, the bathroom, or the gym.

Regardless of where you are working you must respect that teacher’s room and any other students working in that room – DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU OR SCIENCE OLYMPIAD!!!!

Event Preparation

Each work day, students should come prepared with a binder or binders for each event they will be working on. Include in your binder the Division B Rules for each of your events, study schedule, and subject specific study materials. When you add material to the binder you must write the date on which you added it on the front sheet of the new material. You are required to keep a list of useful websites, books, and other sources and annotate the list indicating what information is available from each of these resources. Your coaches may ask you to share your binder with them during any session in order to understand your progress. If we don’t know that you are having trouble with an event we can’t help you. You are responsible to ask for help when you are having trouble getting started or if you are stuck and don’t know what else to do to prepare for an event.

Your coaches are volunteering their time, first and foremost, because they believe that you can learn so much from your Science Olympiad experience and they want to help you make the most of this endeavor. Your coaches are dedicated to helping you learn and progress both individually and as a part of a team. As such, we need to understand how you are learning and progressing. One-on-one meetings, event tests, engineering competitions, tournament performance, and assessments of dedication and effort on behalf of the team will all be used by your coaches to make this assessment.

Event Assignment

Initial event assignments will be based on your event preferences, experience, background knowledge and team needs. All team members will be assigned 3-4 main events, but may also be understudies to 1-2 additional events. Invitational(s), the Virginia State tournaments, and National Tournament all have different schedules, with different event conflicts so expect the events you will compete in to change over time. Events may also change over time as your coaches will, at the time of the State tournament, have to select only 15 team members for this competition.

State Team

Whether or not you end up on the final State tournament, you will have had an opportunity to challenge yourself and expand your knowledge and potential, setting you up for future successes in science and technology. You will also have contributed to the team’s overall success throughout the year and at the State and, maybe even, National tournaments by having been a part of the team throughout the year. If you don’t make the State team, your Science Olympiad experience will still be a success if you have worked hard and learned skills in science and technology that will help you achieve your future goals.

Mentors

We will need parent mentors for the different categories of events – life and personal sciences, physics and chemistry, earth and space science, nature of science/inquiry, and engineering/technology. Please encourage your parents to participate if there is any way that they can.

Supplies & Reference Materials

Some reference materials and old tests can be found in the S.O.binders in the closet in Ms. A’s room. You may sign out a binder to use during the after school sessions. You may remove materials from the binders only to make copies. As you find good reference materials or sources, you are expected to add these to the binders over the year. On the top of the page of any material added, write “Contributed by….” and the date. If reference materials (guide books, etc.) or building materials are needed, please see Ms A about purchasing these materials with Science Olympiad funds. It is critical that XYZ develop a library and body of knowledge on Science Olympiad events. Your success in one year is important, but we all need to think about future teams and help set them up for success as well. We want to create an SO Dynasty in Science Olympiad at XYZ School. Your contribution to this body of knowledge is a required part of your responsibilities representing your school.

Donations & Expenses

We are asking for a $75 donation per family for our general Science Olympiad fund. These funds provide building materials, study guides, office supplies, tournament fees, chemicals, and kits that are needed by the team. Transportation, meals, and lodging for tournaments are an additional expense and in the past, have been an additional $70 to $85 per team member for each tournament. These costs are comparable or less than the total annual costs of having a child participate on a travel soccer or year round competitive swim team, including travel. The general fund has supplemented these costs for some tournaments in the past, when monies were available. If contributing will create a burden, please do not hesitate to speak with Ms. A regarding accessing subsidies for these costs.

Penalties

You are a member of a competitive team. If you are on a sports team and don’t show up for practice without a very good reason, arranged in advance, you usually don’t get to play in the next game. If you exhibit unsportsmanlike behavior, you may receive a warning that is part of a progression for which the consequences are known in advance. Science Olympiad is like any other team. We will follow a soccer-type protocol. Receiving a yellow card will mean that you will be asked to leave the study session and go to the homework club for the remainder of the session. A second yellow card means that, in addition, you cannot attend after school practice for the following 7 day period, including the day you receive the card. You will be expected to work on your own. during this time. Three yellow cards or a red card will mean you are no longer on the team. A yellow card may be given by your coach for the following:

  1. Not being where you are signed in, failure to sign in/out. As coaches, we are responsible to know where you are at all times. If you do not make this possible, we cannot accept the responsibility of having you on the team.
  2. Engaging in non-productive behaviors. This includes but is not limited to: pretending to study with a notebook in front of you, playing computer games, surfing the Internet, checking email or texting during the session.
  3. Attitude, behavior and cooperation - Unacceptable behavior, disrespect for team members/coaches/teachers, or disrupting others who are working and in any other way contributing to an unproductive team environment.

A red card may be given by your coach for any behavior that undermines the overall team effort or violates the standard of “fair competition” for Science Olympiad. If you do not show up for study sessions for a week and do not contact your coaches during that time, it will be understood that you have quit the team. Familiarize yourself with these expectations as outlined in the official rules and web site. If you receive a red card in addition to any other yellow or red card, whether before of after, you will no longer be a part of the Science Olympiad team. Please do not test the reluctance of your coaches for taking such a drastic step.

During tournaments, you are representing XYZ School. Your coaches bear a responsibility for your behavior and cannot allow you to travel with the team unless you have consistently demonstrated the necessary maturity associated with team travel and competition. If this has not been clearly demonstrated, we cannot risk your participation in tournaments as your behavior could disqualify the entire team.

Tentative Tournament Dates

…

Science Olympiad Participation Agreement

Participating on the XYZ Science Olympiad team is a rigorous, demanding and above all rewarding experience. Students, parents, and coaches devote a tremendous amount of time and energy to Science Olympiad. To ensure that this team is an open, productive and enjoyable experience for all involved we ask that all participants agree to the following terms:

For Students

- I will support the team and will prepare to the best of my ability for all events.

- I understand that Science Olympiad is a TEAM and not an individual activity.

- I respect that my Coaches will do their best to make event selection & tournament team selections fairly.

- I understand, that above all, I represent XYZ School and will do so in a manner that is appropriate.

For Students & Parents

- I will treat all coaches, teachers, parents and other students with dignity and respect.

- I understand that the study session requirement (2 per week) is the minimum amount of time a member of the team must spend in order to continue participating in Science Olympiad and that expectations are that students will prepare for a minimum of 5 hours per week.

- I understand that I am welcome to express my concerns about the event assignment and team selection process or any other aspect of Science Olympiad with the Coaches. I will voice any concerns respectfully and at the appropriate time and place.

For Coaches

- We will treat all other coaches, teachers, parents, and students with dignity and respect.

- We will devote our time and resources to prepare our team for all of its events.

- We will execute the event selection & tournament team selection process fairly. We will meet with any parent or student who has any concerns about this process as long as those concerns are expressed respectfully and at an appropriate time.

- We will do our best to provide an environment that is safe and is conducive to student learning. We will take appropriate disciplinary steps to ensure that these goals are met.

- We will do our best to make the team a welcoming, enjoyable, and interesting experience for all involved!

Signed: Ms A, Mrs Z, Mrs O

I have read and understand these terms and conditions. I recognize that failure to meet any of these conditions may result in removal from the team.

______

Student Name Student Signature Parent Signature

To be completed by parent (and please hold these dates on your calendars):

My child will be available on the following weekends for possible tournaments:

Jan 15-17 Feb 13 Feb 27

Feb 5-7 Feb 20 May 20-22

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Please make a copy of this signed page and keep it and the rest of the Guidelines, Rules, and Agreement in your SO Binder.