The Science Olympiad open house for freshmen will take place on Tuesday, Nov.19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Lakeshore Middle School Auditorium.

The 2019-20 season will feature the freshman as leaders for middle schoolers and intermediate schoolers. The goal of the year is to work as a team.

“The middle school team has this reputation that we’re very social,” head coach Melissa Jaeger said. “So, we actually had someone say like ‘oh wow how did you manage to do that when you’re so social’ and it’s, we really work on how we’re a team. Part of being a team is being social with your team members, but we’re in it together. And they’re in it as a team and not just for themselves or for individual glory it’s the team glory that they’re looking for.

Instead of one person working on one thing, the team will all work together to be more successful. Even kids who do not make it to competition help out kids that do by quizzing them.

The first step toward competition is attending the open house. It provides a sense of what the season will look like and what students can compete in.

“The open house really advertises the fact that this exists and that we’re out there and it gives people a chance to see the different kinds of things that we can do,” Jaeger said. “Usually, your interest level and how hard you’re willing to work is going to determine your success more than your natural braininess.”

The reason why the open house is so important is that there are so many events students can choose and find a passion for. 

“Every year, they change the different events so there are 23 events, and about a third of them rotate out,” Jaeger said. “We want the kids to have a chance to see what types of things they can actually compete in and what kinds of things they can do. So it’s trying to get students to realize that it’s not like a sport where you’ve got practice from three to five every single day. It’s, there’s one hour for each event, each week. So you kind of make your own schedule.”