Submitted by Manana Elementary School:
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ELEMENTARY SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAM!
Photo provided by Manana Elementary School
They are the (Team Award) WINNERS for the Elementary Science Olympiad (ESO) (at Mililani High this past Saturday). There were 10 teams: August Ahrens (2 teams), Moanalua (2 teams), Kaleiopuu (2 teams), Mililani Uka (2 teams), Waipahu and Manana.
What is the Science Olympiad?
"The Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. The Elementary Science Olympiad is also designed to encourage classroom teachers to explore new and challenging ways of teaching science. The Science Olympiad tournaments are academic interscholastic competitions which consist of a series of individual and team events which students prepare for during the year. Most Science Olympiad events are team competitions which require teamwork, group planning and cooperation. The emphasis is on learning, participation, interaction, and having fun. A competitive Elementary Science Olympiad (ESO) for Grades 3-6 will not only get kids in the district ready for the competitive Division B program for Grades 6 – 9, it’s also a wonderful supplement to any school’s science curriculum. At the same time you cover the skeletal system, students preparing for an ESO contest can study A is for Anatomy or No Bones About It. Many teachers use the competitive ESO events to add a hands-on element to their classroom schedule. Teams of up to fifteen students prepare throughout the year to compete in an elementary tournament. Any given team may have only one entry per event. An entry is a team of up to 2 out of 15 students competing in any one event as the representatives of their team. Teams may compete in as many of as few events as they wish at the tournament."
Out of the 15 events, (I think) our Manana students placed 1st in ten (10) events, 2nd in three (3) events, and 3rd in one (1) event. Amazing!!
THANK YOU to Lynn Okamura and Ronalyn Velligas, for being the school coaches. Of course, we could not have done this without our parent volunteer coaches – – Michelle Kim, Bonnie Tokita, Debbie Nakagawa, Robyn Murata and Mika Chigawa. They put in countless practice hours with the students, but clearly, all the hard work paid off.
p.s. In case you were thinking that this sounds familiar… Manana is the "Back to Back" (2015 and 2016) Mililani High School ESO Champion!!
The ESO has become quite popular in just it's third year of existence… started with ONE tournament of 10 teams. Now there are 2 ESO tournaments with 10 teams each.