Student Authors: Whitney R. and Vanessa B.
Putnam County R-I High School has several clubs that its students can join, such as FCCLA, FFA, FBLA, and so on and so forth. But this year, a new club has joined: the Science Club! This club is dedicated to science -- hence the name. Its purpose surrounds the activities that relate to science. One of the big events that the club has planned for the year is Science Olympiad, a competition at Truman State University, and a trip to Truman’s herpetarium on March 20th.
Science club, in addition to what was mentioned before, isn’t just necessarily a new club. Last year, two graduating students, Mary B. and Trey M., brought up the idea of a club dedicated completely to all kinds of science. Their teacher in that subject is Mrs. Parajara. Mrs. Parajara went to the administration, who passed the idea, and the club began in the second semester of that year. The idea of the club is to check out aspects of science that there is not enough time to cover during science classes alone.
This club isn’t just about lessons and test taking; it is a hands-on experience that lets you create and watch scientific devices. Last year, the Science Club was able to watch the solar eclipse and the blood moon. They also built rockets and launched them during Activity Period. This year, they have enough time to make plans for what they will do for Science Olympiad, so they have been brainstorming ideas for all of their events. They will eventually begin to build their models.
But what is Science Olympiad? Science Olympiad is a competition of 23 events that covers most areas of Science. Each team member is given around three events. Most events can have partners and only certain ones can have groups of three. If a team has over 15 members, they can have an alternate member that can go to competitions if the original member cannot go to an event, but they are still allowed to help prepare for the event.
Science Club spends most of their time preparing for Science Olympiad. The members are learning aspects of science that haven’t been touched on or just barely mentioned in classes at school. This year the events will be held on February 16th. If you are interested in joining Science Club/Olympiad you still can! October 12th is the last day you can join and pay dues ($5), so hurry up and join!
Whitney R. & Vanessa B. (2018, September 30). New Clubs at Putnam. The Putnam Press.
Sarikas, Christine. What is Science Olympiad? A Complete Guide to Winning. PrepScholar.
16 January 2016,<https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-science-olympiad>. accessed 30 September 2018.
Parajara, Heather. Personal Interview. 27 September 2018.