South Central Washington State
Science Olympiad Clinic
Board of Directors, Tournament Director, Event
Supervisors, and Team Coaches
Board of Directors Q&A
 Garry Lee
 Former Jason Lee Middle School coach
 Current WSO Board of Directors chair
 SW regional board
 Ron Wright
 Former Maple Grove Middle School coach
 Camas High School Coach 7th year (and Liberty Middle School this year)
 Camas High School B & C invitationals 6 years
 Rick Grote, Ph.D.
 Camas High parent/coach
 SW region board
 WSO BoD
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/home
Board of Directors Q&A
Science Olympiad is a proven program that gets students
excited about science and pursuing STEM careers.
Science Olympiad Tournaments are also a wonderful
opportunity for colleges to promote your institutions and
support their communities. A tournament can bring
hundreds of students and parents to see your campus. A well
run tournament can prove invaluable in a colleges
recruitment efforts.
Board of Directors Q&A
Tournament Planning and
Implementation
 Garry Lee
 Former Jason Lee Middle School coach
 Current WSO Board of Directors chair
 SW regional board
 Ron Wright
 Former Maple Grove Middle School coach
 Camas High School Coach 7th year (and Liberty Middle School this
year)
 Camas High School B & C invitationals 6 years
 Rick Grote, Ph.D.
 Camas High parent/coach
 SW region board
 WSO BoD
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/home
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Pre-Tournament Communication
 Coach and Event Supervisor e-mail lists
 (A list of registered teams and coaches will be provided
by the state organization.)
 Web site
 Directions
 Campus maps (electronic)
 Event and team rooms
 Parking (cars and buses)
 Sign Up and Impound Instructions
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Pre-Tournament Planning
Places and Things
 Room Assignments
 Event Sign-Up and Impounds
 Registration table for Teams
 Score Room
 Check in for Event Supervisors
 Security
 Event Equipment Needs
 Lunch is typically provided for all testing and admin help
 Pre-Awards entertainment
 Awards Ceremony
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Pre-Tournament Planning
People
 Recruiting Event Supervisors
 Additional help scoring, proctoring, judging
 Tournament Administration
 Registration table for Teams
 Score room personnel
 Security, Runners, Equipment, Janitorial, and
Communications
 Awards Ceremony
 Pre-Awards entertainment
 Announcer/MC
 Award presenters
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Event Supervisors
 SO is more than just making tests, it encourages
students to consider STEM careers. Event supervisors
are also representatives for their institutions.
 Fairness is critical for student’s perception of Science
Olympiad, event supervisors must be aware of the
specific rules for their events and follow them closely.
 The logistics of a SO tournament event are
significantly different from a typical classroom test,
these need to be addressed in developing, executing,
and scoring tests, stations, and judging activities.
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/home
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Why SO is not like classroom tests
 Students work in pairs (sometimes 3) and can talk during
the events.
 Rank order scoring – no ties
 Best tests have a range of difficulty to differentiate teams.
 If ties occur have tie breaker questions.
 Must be scored before 4:00 PM
 Minimize subjectivity in grading
 Tests are not returned to the students
 Grading errors will not be found by students.
 Develop QA/QC procedures to double check scoring.
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/guidelines-for-event-preparation/test-scoring
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/guidelines-for-event-preparation/test-preparation
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Event Supervisors
 Usually it is very difficult for a single individual to
execute any event.
 Most often college students are used to help proctor,
judge, or score events.
 Be clear if the event supervisor will bring their own
assistants or will they be supplied by the host
institution.
 For many events supplies and equipment are needed.
 Who supplies the equipment and pays for incidentals
needs to be discussed with the event supervisors.
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Room Assignments
 Tournament Administration
 Team Sign In
 Event Sign Up – Day of Tournament
 Score Room
 Awards Ceremony
 Team Home Rooms/Cafeteria
 Event Rooms
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Score Counseling
 After an event is graded by the event supervisors, they
fill out a rank order score sheet and go over it with a
score counselor.
 Make sure all ties are broken and each team gets a
unique rank (for all non-penalties)
 Were there any irregularities in the events?

How were they resolved, are any teams filing appeals for
arbitration?
 Were any penalties assessed?
 Are the students and/or coach aware of the penalties?
 Collect all tests, grading keys, evaluations
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Unified Schedule
B EVENTS
Anatomy
Crime Busters
Disease Detectives
Dynamic Planet
Experimental Design
Food Science
Forestry
Heredity
Meteorology
Metric Mastery
Reach for the Stars
Road Scholar
Rocks & Minerals
Shock Value
Water Quality
Write It, Do It
8:30
9
10
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
Y
11
12
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
1
2
X
Y
X
Y
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
B Division Sign-Up Events - time slots can be added at the discretion of the
tournament
Sign Up
Boomilever
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Helicopters
Keep the Heat*
Mission Possible
Mousetrap Vehicle
Rotor Egg Drop
Sounds of Music*
all test
all test
X
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Sign Up
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Tournament Planning and Implementation
Unified Schedule
 All test MUST end at 10 minutes before the hour so students can
move to their next events.
 Zero Hour Testing 8:30-8:50
 Some events have a testing and building components, so that all
teams are tested at the same time a special time slot was instituted
to accommodate these events.
 Why X-Y Schedule?
 Most lab events are limited in space so we limit the number of
teams to 10 (20-30 students)
 In order to accommodate 20 teams we run the tournament in two
groups.
 All teams from one school MUST be on same schedule.
 If South Central has 10 teams or less go with just a X rotation

(with 11 or 12 teams see if lab space is sufficient for a single rotation)
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Sign-Ups
 Some events require teams to be judged one at a time
(typically building events).
 Teams will sign up for specific time slots.
 In the past this has been done the day of the
tournament, but with zero hour testing this has become
problematic.
 Suggestion: Have coaches e-mail hour blocks where all
students doing a sign-up event are free and the
tournament director assigns time slots within that hour.
 Hand out copies of sign-up schedules at the coaches
table, also have someone available to make last minute
changes.
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Impounds
 Some building events require that devices and/or
equipment be impounded before the event starts.
 Impound devices at least one hour before first team is judged.
(Most tournaments impound in the morning before any
events start.)
 Impound devices where the event will be judged.
 Judges should handle devices as little as possible!
 ANYONE associated with the team may impound the device.
 If rules require impounds, you MUST impound.
 Event Supervisors can ask for impounding even if it is not
required, but ALL teams must be notified in advance of the
change.
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Open and Closed Events
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/guidelines-for-tournaments/open-and-closed-events
 For regulation tournaments only building events are
considered OPEN (for public viewing).
 Building events can be closed in any tournament
where there are questions of fairness or lack of space
for public viewing.
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Specific Event Room Requirements
 Large gym for awards ceremony (and some building
events)
 Laboratory events (water, sinks, electricity)
 Building Events
 Paper and Pencil tests
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Awards Ceremony
 Consider some pre-awards activities from 4-5. Best for
middle schoolers to be active and burn off some energy.
 Yes, acknowledge major players who put tournament
together. A few short speeches of welcome are ok, but keep
them SHORT!
 Event awards
 1st-3rd in each event get medals, 4th gets ribbon
 Team Awards
 1st-3rd get trophies
 You will be allocated a certain number of teams to proceed to
the state tournament. Acknowledge all teams going on to
state.
Tournament Planning and Implementation
Q&A
Tournament Planning and Implementation

Garry Lee
• Former Jason Lee Middle School coach
• Current WSO Board of Directors chair
• SW regional board

Ron Wright
• Former Maple Grove Middle School coach
• Camas High School Coach 7th year (and Liberty Middle School this year)
• Camas High School B & C invitationals 3 years

Rick Grote, Ph.D.
• Camas High parent/coach
• SW region board
• WSO BoD
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/home
Tournament Execution for Teams
B EVENTS
Anatomy
Crime Busters
Disease Detectives
Dynamic Planet
Experimental Design
Food Science
Forestry
Heredity
Meteorology
Metric Mastery
Reach for the Stars
Road Scholar
Rocks & Minerals
Shock Value
Water Quality
Write It, Do It
8:30
9
10
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
Y
Y
11
12
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
1
2
X
Y
X
Y
Y
X
X
Y
X
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
B Division Sign-Up Events - time slots can be added at the discretion of the
tournament
Sign Up
Boomilever
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Helicopters
Keep the Heat*
Mission Possible
Mousetrap Vehicle
Rotor Egg Drop
Sounds of Music*
all test
all test
X
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Sign Up
Tournament Execution for Teams


Note that events are typically in groups of 3, students will not
be able to do more than one event in that time slot.
Zero Hour Testing 8:30-8:50
• Some events have a testing and building components, so that all teams
are tested at the same time a special time slot was instituted to
accommodate these events.

Why X-Y Schedule?
• Most lab events are limited in space so we limit the number of teams to
•
•
•
•
10 (20-30 students)
In order to accommodate 20 teams we run the tournament in two
groups.
The event conflicts are the same for both the X and Y rotations
From one tournament to another teams might be in different rotations,
this can cause confusion.
If South Central has 10 teams or less go with just a X rotation
 (with 11 or 12 teams see if lab space is sufficient for a single rotation)
Tournament Execution for Teams
 Some
events (mainly building events)
require teams to sign up for specific times
slots to have devices judged.
 The coach needs to look at the schedule for
all students doing a sign up event and
determine what time block they are free.
 We are suggesting to tournament directors
to allow coaches to submit time blocks
several days before the tournament.
 Tournament Directors MUST distribute to all
coaches what procedures they will use to
determine sign up times.
Tournament Execution for Teams
Some events require devices and/or equipment
to be impounded before an event.
 The rules are specific about exactly what needs
to be impounded!
 Where and when impounds will occur are
determined by the tournament director and
communicated to coaches.
 ANYONE can impound the device, but it is best if
a student doing the event is present.
 An event supervisor may require impounds for
an event where it is not required by the rules.
Coaches MUST be notified of this before the
tournament.

Tournament Execution for Teams
 What Coaches need to bring
• Team Roster & Code of ethics form
• Photo release forms
• Your cell phone number for score room
 What Coaches receive
• Event room lists with any last minute changes
• Coaches ID tags
• Team wrist bands
• Tournament Evaluation form
• Arbitration Form
• Phone number for score room and/or tournament
director
Tournament Execution for Teams
 What goes on in the Home Room?
• At YCC all teams will be in the cafeteria.
 Assign adult(s) to be present AT ALL TIMES
 Coach can not be a room monitor, they will
be running around dealing with various
issues.
 A team runs on it’s stomachs, have
appropriate snack food and lunches
available.
 Clean
Up
Tournament Execution for Teams
 If
possible arrive early so that the coach
can take the entire team on a walk
through to find the various buildings and
locations of all of the events.
 With enough parent help, especially with
middle school students, guide the
students to individual events.
 In general it is not a good idea to have
students wonder around alone between
events.
Tournament Execution for Teams
 Exact
procedures depends on
tournament, all coaches should be
notified by e-mail a couple of weeks
before tournament
 Best if adults sign up for times.
Tournament Execution for Teams
 Exact
procedures depends on
tournament, all coaches should be
notified by e-mail a couple of weeks
before tournament.
 Students are not required to be at
impound, but is best if an adult and at
least one participating student are
present.
 Students should make a check list of
everything they need to impound.
Tournament Execution for Teams
 Individual
Events are scored and rank
ordered from Best=1, Next Best=2, etc.
 Teams are scored by the sum of the rank
order scores for the individual events
with lowest score being best.
• Missing events have high penalties for team
score (see next slide)
 Teams
receive score sheet at end of
awards ceremony.
http://washingtonscienceolympiad.com/scores/12_Scores/2012WSO_C.pdf
Tournament Execution for Teams
https://sites.google.com/site/wasoeventsupervisorsguide/guidelines-for-tournaments/penalties
 Construction Violations -(tiered scoring)
 Competition
violations – (tiered scoring)
 Participation Points - N
 Missed Impounds
 No Shows - N+1
 Disqualifications – Rule Violations – N+2
 Disqualifications – Ethics – N+5
Tournament Execution for Teams
If irregularities occur students may (and should)
ask for clarification.
 Students SHOULD NOT argue with judges.
 If it is a building event, leave all devices with the
judges.
 Students should immediately contact their coach.
 Coach should immediately contact the event
supervisor and try to resolve the disagreement
prior to filing an appeal.
 Be aware that problems affecting all teams
equally are unlikely to have any changes made.

Tournament Execution for Teams

You need to gather up all the students and
proceed to the gym at least 15 minutes before
the Awards Ceremony.
• Sit together as a school, best if kids are down front and
parents behind.
• Do not block isles as kids will be going to accepts
awards.
• Applaud everyone, cheer for you winners.

Event awards
• 1st-3rd in each event get medals, 4th gets ribbon

Team Awards
• 1st-3rd get trophies
• A certain number of teams will proceed to the state
tournament. Acknowledge all teams going on to state.
Tournament Execution for Teams
Tournament Execution for Teams