Virginia 2013

[fishman100]

I heard Longfellow has Science Olympiad as an elective lol... My friend could be wrong but that's what he told me.

I doubt this is true; I know Longfellow has coaches for some events but I think that a Science Olympiad elective is a bit over the top. Your friend may be under the impression that they have a class because they do well in competition, but similar rumors were spread concerning Solon, who also does not have a class exclusively for SO (99% sure about this). Staying after school is a different story.

Not gonna lie though, I would enjoy having a class dedicated to SO.

[HeartCaro]

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[codenamemoraine]

Also, really interesting to see TJ make it for div. C. It'll be fascinating to see how they do at Nationals - lots of talent there, clearly. The school has the same sort of design as Troy or LASA or NC, and it sounds to me like the team is set up relatively similarly to what Troy does (obviously though with much less experience). I've always found that design to be somewhat loathesome, but clearly it can work!

What do you mean by design type? I'm with TJ lol.

Also, I have to say, Div B in VA is much less competitive than Div C -- we've had three different teams in the past three years now for Div C, it's not Langley-dominated anymore. But Longfellow is the clear winner in Div B. It makes it less interesting -- although I do agree Longfellow deserves it; they put in a LOT of study time!

I believe he is referring to the organization of the team, not any type of engineering design.

in Virginia, Division B has been much more competitive than Division C at the national stage. Just look at the national ranking of VA team(s), you will see what I mean. This, in part, has to do with the way SO teams are organized and run in middle school vs high school here.

I wish you and the rest of the TJ kids, including my own, best of luck at Nationals.

Oh hi, I probably know you then!

I know he meant team organization, I was wondering what kind of organization TJ has in comparison to other teams -- I'm new to all of this on the national level of course! And what I meant is that at the Virginia state level, Div B is dominated by Longfellow while Div C has several teams on par with each other competing for first, as evidenced by the 8 point margin between first and third this year! Div C is exciting because of that. But yeah, Longfellow really is amazing at what they do, I believe they've won 8th at Nationals recently? Hopefully we can increase Virginia's score in Division C this year!

[SLM]

Oh hi, I probably know you then!
... But yeah, Longfellow really is amazing at what they do, I believe they've won 8th at Nationals recently? Hopefully we can increase Virginia's score in Division C this year!

I don't believe we have met, I have not been to any of the tournaments this year. But, I am sure you know my kids on the team, a freshman and a junior.

You are right, Longfellow has been competitive nationally in recent years. They ranked 8th last year and 10th couple of years before that.

TJ has a few kids on the team that have been to Nationals (in Division B) couple of times before, and did quite well in their events. Hopefully that experience translates into a comparable outcome this year as well. Given that this is TJ's first year at Nationals, a national ranking of 20 or higher would be quite good.

Best of luck in Dayton.

[nejanimb]

My impression (could be totally off-base) is that the TJ team is characterized by a high level of intra-team competition, and a fair bit of anxiety over "making the team." I know many teams like it are run in situations where people working on the same events don't really work together (because they're competing with each other in high stakes competition for wristbands), nor do people working on different events (since they don't feel they have anything to do with each other). Certainly this strategy works for many schools, and if there was any high school in the nation who could maybe beat Troy at their own game, it'd be TJ.

Still, with so many smart kids at that school, it wouldn't surprise me to hear TJ called at least once during awards in Ohio. It'll surely help the program going forward too to be surrounded by such great teams at Nationals. Very curious to hear how things go, and great to see a third team in three years head to nationals.

[lms2013]

I heard Longfellow has Science Olympiad as an elective lol... My friend could be wrong but that's what he told me.

I have never joined any online forums, but I feel that I should respond to this. I am one of Longfellow SO coaches this year and I was also the coach last year. Before that, I was an SO coach for an elementary school. Longfellow doesn't have SO as an elective (I wish they did). All event mentors are parents, just like other schools. There is absolutely nothing magic. The success is attributed to many hours of hard work of students, parents and coaches. Longfellow has a long history of Science Olympiad, but we are pleased to see that other teams did so well in many events this year. After all, it is about science.

[Kokonilly]

I just saw that TJ qualified for nationals! Congrats! I have a few friends there and spent about 3 weeks doing research there a couple years ago, so I have a certain fondness for the school.