New Jersey 2014

[nxtscholar]

Lol. Well, there is Kansas

@silvernight: Considering Camden only had 11 teams for Division B.....

[fanjiatian]

Looking at this year's scoresheets, every regional had quite a few open spots! NJIT had 10, Camden had 5 and Union was 8 short of the 30 max.

Actually, according to the state directors, NJIT was entirely full and UCC was even over capacity by two teams. My school, which usually goes to UCC, was sent to Camden this year because they really just did not have room at UCC. If we are to expand how many teams do Science Olympiad in NJ, we really need to open another regional competition.

? I thought the limit was 30 per tournament?
Then is the quota different for each tournament? That's really weird then
NJIT had 20 teams, Camden had 25 and Union had 22...

Another tournament would make things easier. I wonder how other states open up new tournaments so easily, someone teach us pls xD

[SilverNight]

? I thought the limit was 30 per tournament?
Then is the quota different for each tournament? That's really weird then
NJIT had 20 teams, Camden had 25 and Union had 22...

Another tournament would make things easier. I wonder how other states open up new tournaments so easily, someone teach us pls xD

I think it's 20 per tournament, except for Camden which can have more because it's on a Saturday.
I don't think there will be a problem opening up a new tournament unless the state directors refuse. Finding a place won't be too difficult, but it might be quite a bit of work on the state directors' part, and if they are unwilling to put that in, then it won't happen.

[nxtscholar]

blehhhhhh....what if we do everything for her? lol.

yeah....i really want to do whatever it takes to make another regional happen, even if it means helping the new teams with a direct line just to ensure interest.

[magicalforest]

Woah, so nice to see so many people from NJ active on Scioly, even a month after States.

Regarding expanding the NJ SO program, I personally don't think it's likely next year. For one thing, this year's State tournament was poorly run, and I'm sure that would discourage new teams or even existing teams from participating. Especially with limited budgets, I'm sure schools that usually have low interest in SO (like those that leave the award ceremonies early) would naturally choose competitions that are better organized, and therefore more rewarding to the students. According to the Scioly page for state team numbers (linked below), New Jersey has seen declining numbers of registered teams. Especially after this year, I would expect to see further decline.

http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Number ... _per_State

I'm not aiming to be the pessimist here, but if you guys are planning take on the heavy burden of expanding NJ SO (as I think nxtscholar here is wiling to lift mountains to expand NJ SO ) just some considerations for you to think about.

[nxtscholar]

nah, it's all good. realism is what you're really expressing. So, my thoughts:

first of all, the link you gave us showed only the number of teams in 2013. And I just don't have the time atm to bother counting the number of teams from all states. Mind you, ALL states. So, I will say this about the link and the "decline". It only talks about a decline from 2012 to 2013. Technically speaking, we actually experienced a growth this year. Last year, there were only 116 teams. This year, we have 117.

And even then, those numbers don't reveal anything about the numbers we're really interested in: the number of div c teams. The data shown just shows the number of div c AND div b teams in a state combined. So...we're not really looking at the entire picture here.

True. I saw RSA leaving way before the ceremonies even ended. But RSA has always been one of the weakest teams, the poorness of the tournament aside. Yet they still attend. As I talked to fanjiatian about this, some teams just have a genuine interest in STEM....or maybe they're just too stubborn to quit. Either way, I respect their commitment to stick to scioly.

But on the flip side, if a team never experienced the horrible proceedings of a tournament firsthand, would they be detracted? Ignorance is bliss, so they say. I can think of 4 schools that expressed interests in starting a sci oly team.

The crux of your points really seems to stem from the way states was poorly run. But would the Windsors, the Brunswicks, JP Stevens, Montgomery, Princeton, Livingston, and Hillsborough - who represent the top tier of teams in NJ - really quit? I don't think you yourself would even hang the towel and leave sci oly for good, right?

And despite the severe flaws and mistakes that occurred, we saw many teams actually spike and improve astronomically. Monclair was like, 23 at states last year. This year they're 12th. I expect them to actually continue to excel. And UCVTS? They didn't even make it to states in 2012. In 2011, they got like, 400+. Now, they're getting around 260....not bad by the average standards of NJSO. And they're not the only team to have shown improvement. So I do think quite a bit of teams actually were encouraged this year by improved standing. I can state confidently JP Stevens was another one.

So, we'll see. In terms of interest, I think that's really not the issue. I think logistics is. The issue is not could Ms. Wirt host another tournament. It's would she? silverheart seems to think that we can easily find a college to host it. fine, despite my reservations, i'll take her word for it. and i am confident that there will be enough interest. current schools that brought in another team would generate 30 more teams within NJSO, enough to warrant another regional. But again, the issue is if Wirt would approve.

EDIT: And actually, those "many people from NJ" really consist of me, silverheart, fanjiatian, and you, just like right after states (we should probably come up with a group name, lol) So, my shoutout to every other New Jersey denizen, where are you????

[fanjiatian]

Woah, so nice to see so many people from NJ active on Scioly, even a month after States.

Regarding expanding the NJ SO program, I personally don't think it's likely next year. For one thing, this year's State tournament was poorly run, and I'm sure that would discourage new teams or even existing teams from participating. Especially with limited budgets, I'm sure schools that usually have low interest in SO (like those that leave the award ceremonies early) would naturally choose competitions that are better organized, and therefore more rewarding to the students. According to the Scioly page for state team numbers (linked below), New Jersey has seen declining numbers of registered teams. Especially after this year, I would expect to see further decline.

http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Number ... _per_State

I'm not aiming to be the pessimist here, but if you guys are planning take on the heavy burden of expanding NJ SO (as I think nxtscholar here is wiling to lift mountains to expand NJ SO ) just some considerations for you to think about.

Hm that's disappointing But how would new teams even know about our State organization dilemma from this year? This year was quite an anomaly
And this won't happen next year right? We'll take the necessary steps earlier next year to prevent this. And if no one from NJ can help we'll recruit Luo and his MIT-ers

[magicalforest]

About sending suggestions for States next year... Can anyone with administrative knowledge about SO give some insight about how the State SO offices are run?

Three weeks ago, I got my coach to edit and forward suggestions to our NJ State Director. She has not replied to that email, even though she has replied to another of my emails sent later.

I asked my coach to send a follow-up email after a week, but he decided to wait. He says the state director probably read the email and is waiting to bring it up at a Steering Committee meeting.

So my question is when do these Steering Committees meet and what exactly is their role in organizing the tournaments? (Do all States have Steering Committees?) How can we, as students, voice our opinions/suggestions for next year when the person in charge, the state director, does not respond? Are there other people that we could contact to get our message across? Thanks so much in advance.

[fanjiatian]

Wish I knew too
Haha wouldn't it be nice if we could just stick our coaches on the steering committee? Then we can get everything done! lol

If you send another email, can you ask if they'd open a fourth regional tournament, if hypothetically 20+ new teams sign up next year? If so, if a high school could be a suitable venue for regionals

[nxtscholar]

Just putting it out there, it might be just as advantageous to ask a regional director the logistics and what it takes to run one to get an idea of what it would take to set another one up, if Wirt isn't responsive.