Great job Hickory Schools!!! Scores for the Hickory Regional Tournament are posted below. Please e-mail John Kiser if you have questions about the scores or if you would like to make an appeal regarding any events. Scores will not be final until Wednesday at 5:00 pm at which time final scores will be posted with any explanations to changes to scores and rankings based on questions and appeals posted.

February 13, 2008

Hi Coaches

I know you have a lot on your plate as your prepare for our regional tournament. I wanted to update you on our policy this year on “walk-in” events and on impounding.

Walk in events: A sign up sheet will posted on table in the MPC Gym. You are encouraged to sign up for a time slot for each walk in event when you check-in. The sign up sheet will be taken to event leader 30 min prior to event. However, teams can still sign up for a time slot with the event leader until the event time is over. This will be done to (hopefully) eliminate the waiting and backlogging that takes place with the walk-in events.

Impounding: No impounding until the beginning of the event! Event Leaders will establish the impounding rules on an event-by-event basis. Please check with each individual event leader. As always, let me know if you have any last minute questions or concerns! I hope to see you all Saturday!

John

February 6, 2008

Dear Coaches,

The Hickory Regional Tournament at Catawba Valley Community College is approaching quickly and will be held on February 16, 2008. Registration will be handled exactly how it was handled last year (for returning coaches).

Attached to this e-mail you will find an official team roster in pdf format. On the morning of the tournament, each coach must turn is an official team roster for each team. Each school participating this year has up to 2 teams competing at Hickory's Regional Tournament: one Varsity team and one Junior Varsity team. The official team roster that is attached is an editable PDF and must be filled out for each team a school has participating. This means if a school has two teams then the school’s coach must fill out one official team roster for his/her Varsity team and another official team roster for his/her Junior Varsity team (and so on). Directions for this editable PDF are on the form. Do NOT print out this form and fill it in by hand. Edit it from your computer then print it. If you have a change to the roster on the Saturday of your tournament then you can cross out a name and manually insert it. Otherwise, all forms should be turned in just as requested on the directions to this form. If you have troubles with the Adobe Acrobat form, please download the most current version of Adobe Acrobat.

In the coaches packets that you receive after you register onsite at your Regional Tournament will be wristbands that all participants must wear if they want to compete. The wristbands will be color-coded as well as labeled by type of team. The wristbands will be colored and labeled as follows:

Red – NCSO Varsity
Lime- NCSO Junior Varsity 1

The colors will help Event Leaders identify which teams are Varsity or Junior Varsity and the text on the wristband will help students know which team they are on since many times students do not know if they are Varsity or Junior Varsity. It is very important for your students to know what team they are on if your school has more than one team. We hope that the wristbands will help this issue.

Every Regional Event will have cover sheets that students must fill out and turn in with their completed event. An Example of this coversheet is attached to this e-mail. Please go over it with your students and stress the importance of writing LEGIBLY and knowing which team they are on. This will help us out a lot. These cover sheets will be provided by the event leaders. We are attaching them so that students will know what to do when they see them. DO NOT COPY COVER SHEETS AND HAVE STUDENTS BRING THESE TO THE EVENT WITH THEM.

Also attached to the e-mail is our Vandalism and Behavior Policy and Video/Photo Release form. These must be brought and turned in at Registration along with your Official Roster Forms. Your team will be unable to compete without the roster, a signed vandalism and behavior policy, and Video/Photo release forms completed and signed by parent/guardian for every student on your roster. PLEASE GO OVER THE VANDALISM AND BEHAVIOR POLICY WITH YOUR STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND GUESTS!

Please e-mail your Regional Director, John Kiser (jkiser@isothermal.edu), if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you at the tournament.

Regards, Jason

February 6, 2008
Hi Coaches!

I have attached tentative schedules for Division B and Division C. Please note that these are tentative and that room assignments are subject to change. Should there be a room change, you will be notified at check-in and during the opening ceremonies.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

John

February 4, 2008

Hi Coaches, I need to bring a few extra details about the Hickory regional tournament to your attention.

JV and Varsity Teams

If you have JV and Varsity teams from your school, it is important that you read the following policies posted online at the NC Science Olympiad Website. Keep in mind that students cannot play on both teams and cannot switch teams mid-tournament.

Team Size Policy
Membership Policy

You will also need to fill out separate rosters for your JV and Varsity teams!

Because we have a large number of JV teams in the middle school level (B Division), we will award medals as described in the state policies; JV and Varsity teams will place separately for trophies and medals. However, because we have few JV teams in the high school level (C Division), we have decided to change policy slightly. Because we have so few JV teams at the C level, the state policy says that those JV teams cannot receive medals. Here’s what we will be doing for C Division Only: Your actual placing in the event is the medal you will receive, regardless if the team is JV or not. So if a JV team places second overall in an event, that JV team will get a second place medal. This system is what we used last year for the medals.

The Rules

I urge you to have your students read (and for you to read too!) the 2008 rules for their events several times and clearly understand what materials (such as calculators, notes, etc) are allowed for their events. Not following these rules could lead to your students not being prepared for events and perhaps being disqualified for having the wrong materials. Keep in mind that some laboratory events (Food Science, Chemistry Lab, Forensics, Science Crime Busters) have specific safety clothing requirements. Failure to have the proper clothing and safety supplies WILL result in not being allowed to participate in the event.

Rules Clarifications

There are several websites that have “FAQs for events”. However, many (if not all of these) are misleading or dead wrong. I’m not including links to FAQ websites so not to confuse you! The only link you need to be concerned about regarding FAQs is here:

http://www.sciencenc.com/Tournament_information/events_list_2008.htm

Please check this link and be aware of any last minute clarifications or changes. For C Division teams: It is IMPORTANT to re-check the “Junk Yard Challenge” rules! They have been re-worked in the last few days.

Maps and Schedules

Attached is a map to local fast food restaurants. The other attachment is a map of the CAD building, where most events will be held. The following link shows how to get to the CVCC campus, the second link shows the CVCC campus. Check-in is in MPC, parking is available across the street for activity buses.

http://www.cvcc.edu/stud_serv/information/map/building.html http://www.cvcc.edu/stud_serv/information/map/index.html

Schedules with tentative room assignments will be coming out in the next few days.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns and I'll be glad to help you.

See you on the 16th!

John

John R Kiser
Chemistry Instructor
Arts & Sciences Isothermal Community College
Spindale, NC

January 24, 2008

Greetings Science Olympiad Coaches!

It's hard to believe the tournament is around a month away. In preparation for the tournament, please note the following items. If you have questions that are not answered from the information listed below, please email John Kiser at jkiser@isothermal.edu or call 828-286-3636 (ext 394). Thanks for helping us continue to offer the Hickory Regional Science Olympiad Tournament.

A WORD ON EVENTS AND EVENT NAMES
Some events that are listed in the coach’s manual are not being offered in NC on a state or regional level. The 23 events you see for your division are the events that will be offered at both your regional and NC state tournaments.

For C Division, “Herpetology” is the same as “Amphibians and Reptiles.” For B Division, “Simple Machines” is the same as “Magnify Your Strength”

There has been a correction to Bottle Rocket rules, please see the link below: http://www.sciencenc.com/Tournament_information/Event_rules_nc/bottle_rocket.cfm NOTE : This only applies to C Division!

VOLUNTEERS
We are always looking for volunteers to help us make the Hickory tournament run smoothly. If you would be interested in writing an event (we’re particularly interested if you are knowledgeable about earth science, physical science or electronics, but any background is fine!), please contact me ASAP with your area of specialization. If you have parents, assistant coaches, or other teachers who are interested to see what goes on behind the scenes at a tournament, we would also welcome their help as a volunteer. You can either email me the contact information, or sign up online at: http://www.sciencenc.com/Volunteer_info/volunteer_registration.cfm Please be sure that you select the Hickory region!

PARKING
The most convenient parking on tournament day will be on the west end of campus around the Multi-Purpose Complex (MPC), across the street from the MPC, and the lot south of the C. A. Dunbar (CAD) building. I will be sending electronic copies of the maps to you soon.

CHECKING IN
Please stop by the information / check-in table in the lower lobby of the Multi-Purpose Complex to register your team(s) and pick up your Sign-In Packets. Packets will contain:

1 campus map, 1 map of local restaurants, 1 schedule, 1 coach’s letter, and 18 student certificates for each team.

Please be sure you have the official completed team roster ready to be turned in when you check in. You should also have the conduct policy completed and signed when you check in. Failure to have these may result in your team not being able to participate in the tournament! You should be receiving these in the next few weeks from Jason Painter.

DURING THE DAY
The home bases for middle school teams will be CAD 345, CAD 3rd floor lobby, and CAD 4th floor lobby. The home bases for High School teams will be the upper floor/running track around the MPC. Space is on a first come, first served basis. We do ask that you not block aisles or hallways wherever you set up camp.

Please remember that Catawba Valley Community College has offered their facility at no charge once again and we all need to show our appreciation by keeping the campus clean. The majority of our tournament will be held this year in the relatively new CAD building.Deposit trash in appropriate containers and check your camps to make sure everything has been cleaned up before leaving. We will be checking to see if you have cleaned up this year! Please do not leave a mess! Keep in mind all campus buildings are nonsmoking.

Please have your students use the stairways in both CAD and MPC buildings if possible. Not only is it better for their health, it prevents backlog at the elevator and issues of the elevator getting stuck or not moving because it’s too crowded. Stairways are located on both ends of the CAD building.

Food will not be available for purchase on the CVCC campus. Maps to local restaurants will be available on-line at the tournament website, in the Coach's Check-In Packet, and at the MPC information desk/check in table.

Coaches, in case I have a need to contact you during the tournament, I request that you make sure your cell phone is turned on and that you listed your current cell phone number when you registered your team. This will be much easier than several of us searching through 2 buildings for you.

We ask that you, your students, and any parents / guests that are accompanying you behave properly and respectfully to other competitors, coaches, and event leaders.

Please be sure you have read the “Rules and Code of Ethics” and the “NCSO Policies” on the state website.

DURING THE EVENTS
Please remind your team members to take all required and allowed materials (such as safety glasses, writing instruments, calculators, etc) to their events. Please read the event rules about what is required, allowed, and not allowed for each event. If your students do not bring the required materials, then they will be at a disadvantage and may not be allowed to participate in the event. For safety reasons, some events have specific safety clothing requirements. Students that are not wearing proper safety clothing will not be allowed to participate in those events. Also, keep in mind the opening and closing ceremonies and many events are held in the MPC gym; please do not wear shoes that will not overly scuff or damage the gym floor.

If you have a JV team, please be sure to emphasize to your students to clearly indicate that they are the varsity or JV team when filling out event answer sheets.

Any event with a device which is normally impounded upon arrival to the tournament (as stated in the directions for each event), will instead be presented to the Event Leaders just prior to the event. There will be no impounding. This allows competitors to protect their devices until ready for use. Devices will be inspected prior to competition to ensure all criteria have been met and are legal according to the event rules. Please be sure that for certain building events, your students provide the appropriate documentation (flight logs, etc) to the event leaders the day of the tournament. As a reminder to middle school teams, you need to provide your own launcher for “Balloon Launch Glider,” a major change from last year!

Keep in mind that building events held in the MPC Gym are open to spectators (parents, coaches, etc) and that other events in classrooms are closed to spectators – only students participating in the event can be in the room!

DURING AND AFTER THE AWARDS CEREMONY
Lost and Found items should be turned into the Information/Check in desk in the MPC. If you think a student has lost an item, be sure to check before you leave.

If your team places and advances to the state level, you must complete the appropriate forms before you leave CVCC!

I look forward to seeing you at CVCC!

John Kiser
Chemistry Instructor, Arts & Sciences
Isothermal Community College
Spindale, NC

October 23, 2007

Regional Tournament Schedules Posted

August 9, 2007

2008 Regional Tournament Date Posted