The R&D Council Proudly Sponsors The Science Olympiad Northern NJ Regional Tournament - And Everyone is a Winner The Science Olympiad Northern New Jersey Regional Tournament, held at Montclair State University on January 15, 2004, was a celebration of young scientific, engineering and technical skill and talent, as 15 New Jersey middle schools and 12 high schools competed in individual and team events in the categories of biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology. The Research and Development Council was a sponsor for this event that honors New Jersey's budding scientists and will continue to be a major sponsor of the New Jersey Science Olympiad. Now in it's 20th year, the Science Olympiad Tournaments are rigorous academic, interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of individual and team events that middle school and high school students prepare for during the year. Students from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren County schools participated in a number of fun, but challenging activities with names like Bottle Rocket, Mission Possible, Naked Egg Drop, Robo-Billiards, Storm the Castle and The Wright Stuff. The events involve not only an understanding of scientific, mathematic and technology concepts, but problem-solving skills and the ability to work as part of a team. "This is the greatest opportunity for kids to get involved and compete in something other than sports or music," said Nancy Evans Bennett, President of the NJSTA (NJ Science Teachers Association) and the coach of the Mendham's Mountain View Middle School team. "To prepare for the event, they come to a club once a week and practice for a variety of activities. It's strictly voluntary. They involve problem solving, team cooperation, critical thinking and thinking on your feet. They don't even have to be a science whiz, but if they're team players and good in problem solving, they can really shine in this." Henry Carlson, an eighth grader from Mountain View Middle School and a competitor in the Robo-Billiards activity, said, "This is really fun for us. We get to see our friends and all the different robots they've made. It gives us great ideas for next year." Livingston High School took first place among the high schools and Pioneer Academy of Science in Clifton placed first among the middle schools. The top eight high schools were: Livingston High School, Millburn High School, Morristown High School, Northern Highlands Regional High School (Allendale), Montclair High School, Becton Regional High School (East Rutherford), Wallkill Valley Regional High School (Hamburg), and Sparta High School. The top eight middle schools were: Pioneer Academy of Science (Clifton), Al-Ghazaly School (Jersey City), Mt. Hebron High School (Montclair), Sparta Middle School, Glenfield Middle School (Montclair), Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School (Wyckoff), West Brook Middle School (Paramus) and Al-Hakimah School, (Prospect Park.) These schools will compete in a statewide tournament in March and the winners of that event will compete in the National Competition which will be held in May. Diane Koza, head of the Science Department at Livingston High School said, "This is our second year at the tournament and the level or teamwork, comraderie and support is just amazing. The teachers coach the kids on the events after school and everyone really pitches in to make this happen. It's amazing what these kids come up with and how hard they work." Meryl Federman, a Livingston High School freshman Koza considers "brilliant," was a competitor in the Tower Building activity. One of the challenges was that the tower had to hold a 50-pound bucket of sand. As Meryl was filling the bucket, the tower started to lean. With her scoop scraping the bottom, and almost done, the tower finally collapsed. She still looked a little dismayed when the room burst into applause for an unsuccessful, but solid attempt. She explained, "My partner, Eileen Tong, and I were already enrolled in Practical Data Gathering and Fossils competitions, so entering the Tower Building competition, a new event this year, was kind of a last minute decision. We just started building it last Sunday. I was working on it all day yesterday and was up until midnight last night working on it." When asked if she'd be back next year, Meryl replied, "We'll be back, but next year we'll hopefully have it done sooner!" John Daghlian, Executive Director of The R&D Council, says, "It was so rewarding to see these great kids having fun with science and technology and being recognized and honored for doing something they clearly love. The Research and Development Council's objectives are completely aligned with those of the Science Olympiad, which are improving the quality of science education and providing recognition for outstanding achievement. There is no question that the participants in this tournament will be tomorrow's leaders and innovators in science and technology."