Cedar Springs Homeschool, our team, won second place in the Tennessee State Science Olympiad, held on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. Our son won gold in Solar System and Crave the Wave. Our daughter won silver in Flight.
Between events, in the homeroom
Waiting between Flight and Bridge
We are proud of their achievements – overall, as a team, and individually. Our children did their part to help the team win second place out of the best 15 teams in the State of Tennessee.
Of course, it stings, because we wanted to make it to Nationals. By participating in Science Olympiad for the past six years, we had several goals. We have reached them all and then some. “Some” refers to goals we did not even know we should have set for ourselves.
Setting up to fly the plane, Flight event, Cox Auditorium
But winning State so we can go to Nationals was the one goal we did not reach. And that hurts.
I know, I know. Second overall at State level is nothing to sneeze at. We beat private schools which charge $20,000 in tuition, like Webb School of Knoxville, which placedd 13… I wonder what those parents are thinking right about now. Many of them work in the medical field and would make great science olympiad coaches for their children, but I guess they are not interested. They just pay the money and delegate the education of their children to others.
The Fallout
Friendship Christian School won State and will represent Tennessee at Nationals, which will be held in Wichita, KS at the end of May. Congratulations to them and Godspeed. They deserved to win.
Our daughter admires a cactus bush at UTK, walking between the Alumni Memorial and Humanities
Unfortunately, due to high winds, 10% of Knoxville lost power later in the day and the awards ceremony could not happen. We received the results via email and I suppose the medals and trophy will come in the mail. The coaches are trying to find a date to organize our own ceremony in the near future.
University of Tennessee Knoxville bridge
This whole situation hurts further because I think the kids should have received their medals in a ceremony on the day of the tests. It is very anticlimactic. It is almost as if it did not even happen, as my daughter said.
No, we do not always get what we want. Things do not always go as planned. In a team effort, we win together and we lose together. No matter how much you prepare and plan, results may not be 100% what you hoped. That is one of the many lessons Science Olympiad has taught us.
