Elementary Science Olympiad ESO Photo
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ESO at JHS
Coaches,

ESO 2018 is less than 10 days away! A few final issues to alert you of as you make your final preparations.

In this final ESO at JHS News Update…
+ ORDER PIZZAS THROUGH TUESDAY AT 3:00 PM
+ INVOICES & PAYMENT RECEIPTS
+ PASTA TRANSPORTER & UNBREAKABLE – IMPOUNDING
+ MAPS AND DIRECTIONS ONLINE
+ HOME BASE IN THE CAFETERIA OR GYM
+ PARENTS, SUPPORTERS, & STUDENT BEHAVIOR
+ WEATHER MONITORING
+ START AND END OF ESO SATURDAY
+ FINAL TEAM CHECK-IN
+ ASSISTANCE DURING THE OLYMPIAD

ORDER PIZZAS THROUGH TUESDAY AT 3:00 PM
We're finalizing our pizza orders now. If you have not pre-ordered for your school and would like to, please do so by this Tuesday at 3:00 pm. The price is $7 for a large cheese pizza and $8 for a large pepperoni pizza. Cash or check payable to JHS will be accepted for payment. Place your order now.  If you need to update a previous order, simply submit a new order.  We will keep your most recent order and discard previous orders.

INVOICES & PAYMENT RECEIPTS
In the past for payment of the registration fee ($3 per student) or pizzas, some schools have indicated a need for an invoice prior to payment.  If your school needs an invoice, please respond to this email by Wednesday.  We will create them by request only this year.  However, all schools will receive a receipt upon payment Saturday morning.

PASTA TRANSPORTER & UNBREAKABLE – IMPOUNDING
Pasta Transporter vehicles will be impounded at 10:00 am in Room 123.  Any team member may bring the vehicle to the impound room.  Please bring the admission ticket for the event with the vehicle.  Participants will return to the room at 2:00 pm to pick-up their vehicles and transport them to the gym for launch.  Unbreakable devices for all teams will be impounded at 10:00 am in the Lecture Hall, located in the hallway just outside the Main Gym.  Again, anyone can bring the device and please bring the admission ticket with the device.  Hubble teams that will participate at 10:00 am in Unbreakable will deliver their devices to the impounding room, then wait outside the room while devices are evaluated.  Hubble teams will then pick-up their device and return to the gym around 10:15 for launch.

MAPS AND DIRECTIONS ONLINE
Our ESO at JHS News and Notes page has all the information you'll need for this Saturday. There you can print maps of JHS with all the event rooms clearly marked. Plus, be sure to complete an event admission ticket for each event your students will be competing. The ticket is their way in the door (just one per team per event, not per student). You can print those tickets from our news and notes page. Directions to Jacksonville and JHS are also online. Finally, be sure to inform your students of their division (Newton, Hubble, or Einstein). That will help us assist them when they are lost or have any other questions.

HOME BASE IN THE CAFETERIA OR GYM
We had 23 teams register for a table in our cafeteria.  From that list, a random draw awarded the following 16 teams a table reservation.  Here are those teams that will have a table reserved in our cafeteria: Auburn AHS, Brighton, Chalkville, Charles Brown, Columbia, Corner, Crumly Chapel, Donoho, Fultondale, Highlands, IMSA, Irondale, Kitty Stone, Minor, Mt. Olive, and Snow Rogers. Tables will be clearly labeled for each team. For teams not selected for the cafeteria, space will be available in the gymnasium on both the upper and lower levels on a first-come, first-served basis. 

PARKING
Please plan a few extra minutes just to get parked in our lot on Saturday morning.  We have staff who will be directing traffic in the lot to get everyone to an appropriate space safely.  Buses may be unloaded near the gym, but should be parked near our football stadium.  It may be a bit of a stroll from the parking areas to the school.  We have more vehicles at JHS on Olympiad Saturday than any other day all year long!

PARENTS, TEAM SUPPORTERS, & STUDENT BEHAVIOR
As a reminder to coaches, parents, and other team supporters, most events are closed to anyone other than the participants.  Parents are welcome to wait outside of our event rooms for their participants to exit.  I would recommend a cushion or even tailgating chair as we do not tend to have many spare chairs in the hallways.  Audiences are welcome for any event taking place in the main gym throughout the day.

Finally, we ask for your assistance before Olympiad Saturday and potentially your supporters’ assistance during the Olympiad to help us in advocating proper behavior by our young participants.   It’s certainly an exciting day for everyone and the energy level of our young participants will be high.  However, if you could remind them to remain as quiet as possible in the hallways (just like a normal school day!), refrain from running in the halls, playing where they shouldn’t be, etc, that would be most helpful.  Obviously, we want everyone on their “best behavior”.  I will admit, we’re pretty good at running the competition, but handling behavior problems is not our specialty!

WEATHER MONITORING
Among my many talents is meteorology, for which I received my bachelor’s degree in 2000.  So, please know that I will be watching the weather for any troubles this weekend.  We have a safety plan, like all schools, that we will implement as necessary. It’s 10 days away, but the long range forecast does look promising for a good day.

START AND END OF ESO SATURDAY
We look forward to seeing you Olympiad Saturday.  We will open the school at approximately 8:30 am.  Final team check-in by the head coach takes place between 8:30 and 9:30 in the gym.  At 9:30, we will have our opening ceremonies, also in the gym.  All teams should be present for the 15-minute ceremony to kick-off the day’s competition.  Events begin promptly at 10:00 am.

We do not have any special presentations planned for the afternoon.  Instead, there are some featured events including Pasta Transporter that will take place in the gym between 2:00 pm and 2:45 pm.  Unbreakable drops will take place throughout the morning (10:00 am until 12:30 pm) and Crash Landing drops will take place in the early afternoon (1:30 pm until 3:15 pm).  Then, with any luck, we hope to get the awards ceremony underway at 3:30 pm.  Similar the past few years, we will have plenty of seating on the gym floor for participants, while all of the bleacher seating will be available for parents and other team supporters.

FINAL TEAM CHECK-IN
Just the head coach needs to stop by our registration table in the Main Gym between 8:30 and 9:30 to confirm your registration materials and submit your payment (cash or checks payable to Jacksonville High School).  To save time, we will have your payment receipts already completed based on your preregistration roster and pizza orders.  Please have your payment amount match this number.  If you need a reminder of the number of students on your roster, please email this address.  Of note, we will not adjust your payment amount down if you bring less students.  You are welcome to bring substitutes for no charge. If your roster increases, we will assess an additional $3 per participant fee.  ASSISTANCE DURING THE OLYMPIAD
I hope to be able to meet each of you personally on Saturday.  With a record 34 teams this year, it will be a bit of a challenge.  However, at check-in, you will receive a wristband that is designated for the head coach.  Hopefully, this will help any of our staff locate our head coaches among the masses if we have a question for you.  Please know I certainly thank you for all YOUR hard work with your teams in preparing them for this big day.  If there’s an issue you need addressed during the day, you will be able to find the senior members of our Olympiad staff in the JHS Library / Media Center which is located just across from the cafeteria.

If you have any last minute questions, please feel free to email them by Thursday, FEbruary 22nd. Our staff will be unavailable Friday, February 23rd to answer any questions as we make our final preparations to host you all on Olympiad Saturday.

Sincerely,
David Peters
Coordinator, ESO at JHS

Last Updated: February 14, 2018.


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