The Afro-Academic Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics. ACT-SO is a competition held anually by the NAACP
for American High School
students of african
descent. Competitors must be amateurs
in the disciplines they compete in and may compete in up to three different disciplines. There are 24 different disciplines available for competitors, consisting of the performing and fine arts, sciences and humanities
Local branches of the NAACP hold competitions in the spring and winners attend the National NAACP Convention where they compete against other students from across the country for scholarships and prizes. As of 2001, the National Gold Medalist in each discipline is guaranteed a one-thousand dollar scholarship in addition to various other prizes and awards.
The first National ACT-SO competion was held in Portland, Oregon in 1978 and was largely the brainchild of journalist Vernon Jarret who wanted to encourage academic and cultural achievement of black youth. The 1992 and 1993 competitions in Nasvhille, Tennessee and Indianapolis, Indiana, respectively were both subjects of televised specials which aired on ABC.
Currently, the 24 categories or discplines of ACT-So are; Music Composition, poetry, playwriting and original essay in the humanties, dance, dramatics (formerly acting), Music Instrumental/Classical, Music Instrumental/Contemporary, Music Vocal/Contemporay, Music Vocal/Classical and Oration in the performing arts, drawing, painting, scultpure, phtography and filmaking in the visual arts, architecture, biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, phyics/electronics, physics/general and physics/general in the sciences and the newest category, Entrepreneurship.