February 9, 2008

Scores for the Raleigh Regional Tournament are posted below. There were a couple errors found following the tournament that were corrected. This changed some places for B Division. However, we will not make a final ranking change from the Awards Ceremony tonight until Wednesday at 5:00 pm when all arbitrations are final. Please e-mail JASON PAINTER if you have questions about the scores or if you would like to make an appeal regarding any events. With an event this big it is inevitable that errors will occur. Please check your teams rankings to make sure they make sense. If you have an NS in your score and you know a team competed in that event then please let me know immediately. There is an outstanding question regarding Science Word. Again, 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 6, 2008

Hello All!

Final preparations are being made for this weekend's tournament and we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday. Here are a few last housekeeping notes.

I have attached the schedules with room numbers and a map of Garner HS. We have added some events in their new 900 building, so even you experienced coaches may want a few copies of the map.

The building will open at 7 am on Saturday.

Please check in when you arrive in Room 100, once check-in is complete, we will be moving operations to room 515.

My cell is: 919-418-2885, please call me on tournament day if you have any problems!

See you soon- kim

January 24, 2008

Dear Coaches,

The Raleigh Regional Tournament at Garner High School is approaching quickly and will be held on February 9, 2008. Registration will be handled exactly how it was handled last year (for returning coaches).

On the morning of the tournament, each coach must turn in an official team roster (could take a few minutes to download) for each team. Schools participating this year have up to 4 teams competing at Raleigh's Regional Tournament: one Varsity team and three Junior Varsity teams. 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 here: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and then try opening and editing the document again.

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
Yellow - NCSO Junior Varsity 2
Purple - NCSO Junior Varsity 3

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. Please go over the cover sheet 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. 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. This must be brought and turned in at Registration along with your Official Roster Forms. Your team will be unable to compete without both of these forms (the roster and the vandalism and behavior policy) signed by both the coach and the principal. PLEASE GO OVER THE VANDALISM AND BEHAVIOR POLICY WITH YOUR STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND GUESTS!

Please e-mail your Regional Director, Kim Gervase, if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you at the tournament.

Regards,

Jason

January 9, 2008

Dear Coaches,

Hello and Happy 2008!  Time flies and I cannot quite believe that we are one month from the Raleigh Tournament!  I know you are very busy helping teams prepare for the tournament and we are very busy trying to make this the best one yet! 

We have record numbers for participation yet again this year and that is completely due to your hard work!  We currently have 15 varsity / 8 JV B teams and 18 varsity/ 13 JV C teams registered for the tournament!

I wanted to touch base with everyone and take care of some housekeeping as well as open the floor to questions you all might have. 

Division B coaches – please remind your team members that they are responsible for the following things on tournament day:

• A launching mechanism (including balloon) for balloon launch glider
• An egg for egg-o-naut
• data logs needed for tower (due at time of test)
• graphs for Trajectory (due at time of impound)

Division C coaches – please remind your team members that they are responsible for the following things on tournament day:

• data logs for Boomilever
• egg and supplies needed to construct rocket for bottle rocket
• notated score of music for sounds of music

Any data logs/graphs need to be printed or hand-written on paper, stapled together, and clearly labeled with school name and team (JV, V, etc).  Please do not turn in notebooks or anything else fancy, it just becomes cumbersome for the judges to juggle.

Hopefully you have all looked at times on the schedule by now.  While periods run 75 minutes, sessions will run a maximum of 60 minutes, so there will be time between sessions for students to return to home base, grab a drink, etc.  This also means that while it looks like there is only 45 minutes for lunch, it will be more like an hour plus.  Feel free to order pizzas, etc to be delivered to the school, but keep in mind that there will be upwards of 1500 people on campus that day and everyone has the same lunch break.  It is often a good idea if you assign a parent or 2 to pick up lunch if that is how you are handling it.  As far as I know, the boosters will be selling concession-type food again this year.  I will let you know if that is not the case.  Remember that table/floor space for teams to set up is on a first-come/first-serve basis; there will be no assigned areas for teams.

 Back by popular demand, we will be using the wristband system again this year and not the rosters.  More to come on color of bands, etc.  If you are new this year, just know that a student must be on a varsity or JV team all day; you cannot have students flipping back and forth between the 2 categories.

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED!!!  I sent a request to everyone in October asking for at least one volunteer from each team to help with at least one event.  Thanks to all who have sent me willing parents and teachers!  The gold star goes to Raleigh Charter for volunteering to write and run an entire event for B division!  I still need many people to help run events in order for this day to go smoothly.  Please ask parents or teachers who are planning on being at the tournament if they would like to see the “behind the scenes” and help with an event.  Have them email me with what areas they feel comfortable with and I will work with them to find a slot.  Parent volunteers have given us very positive feedback on the experience because it lets them see how an event actually runs and gives them an appreciation for what it takes to run a tournament of this size.  PLEASE TRY TO GET A CONTACT TO ME BY JANUARY 15 (it helps my ulcer stay calm if I have most slots filled by then J)

Please contact me with any questions you may have; email is best, but my cell phone number is listed below if your questions need more explanation.  As many of you know, I have 2 small girls and am often able to sound more coherent on email than on the phone!

Hang in there!

October 23, 2007

Regional Tournament Schedules Posted

Coaches,

Hello!  I know you are all gearing up for another great year of SO!  I was glad to see so many of you at the Coaches clinic on the 12th & 13th.

First of all, please remember that you can contact me with any questions/concerns you may have about events, logistics, etc.  I have given you my cell phone below; I would prefer email, but if it something that requires a conversation, please call me.
 
Secondly, I am asking for your help.  I am working to get event leaders and helpers lined up for all the events at regionals.  It would be great if at least one person from each team could volunteer for an event.  We have found that parents and extra teachers who have always been at these competitions enjoy the chance to see the events "in action."  Plus, helping out makes the day go faster!
 
If you have people interested in running or helping to run an event, please pass my email along to them or send me their contact info and I will get in touch with them.  I appreciate all your hard work as you start another season.
 
Kim Gervase
Science Olympiad
Raleigh Regional co-director
919-418-2885

August 9, 2007

2008 Regional Tournament Date Posted