Coaches,

It’s hard to believe but just 2 weeks remain until ESO at JHS 2010.  As always, I hope your preparations are coming along well.

You can keep up with the latest ESO at JHS news online at http://www.esoatjhs.org. However, here are some highlights that you need to be aware of as you continue to get ready for this year's Olympiad.  Lots of information and reminders... we want you as prepared as we are!

In this ESO News Update...
+ PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION & PICTURE THIS TIME
+ ESO AT JHS INVOICE
+ GROUP ASSIGNMENTS & EVENT SCHEDULE
+ EVENT INFORMATION ONLINE
+ FOOD SERVICE & PIZZA ORDERS
+ MAPS OF JACKSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
+ EVENT ADMISSION TICKETS
+ AWARDS CEREMONY
+ TEAM SCORING CHANGE
+ PARKING & BASE CAMPS

PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION & PICTURE THIS TIME
The vast majority of teams have submitted pre-registration information.  The deadline was February 8th.  If you have not sent that information in, please do so ASAP!  The info is key to our own planning!  Links are available on the home page of our web site.  Or, simply click here: http://www.esoatjhs.org/preregroster10.html and http://www.esoatjhs.org/preregevents10.html.  Again, you can make changes to your roster up to the morning of the Olympiad.  Also, please take a moment to double-check your team’s times at http://www.esoatjhs.org/times10.html.  We ask that teams be present at the start of their assigned period.  Teams will participate in a random order during that time period (the order shown is not the order of participation).  Some teams may participate simultaneously.  Any changes to your roster can be made the morning of the Olympiad.  Details below.

ESO AT JHS INVOICE
Attached to this email is an invoice for your ESO at JHS team fee and pizza fee (if known).  It is in PDF file format.  There is no need to mail it in.  You may simply bring cash or a check with you to the Olympiad.  However, if your business office is more comfortable mailing the check, we would appreciate having it by Thursday, February 25th to avoid confusion.  The address is listed on the invoice.  You are welcome to order pizzas until February 23rd.  If you will need an revised invoice with the pizzas included, please drop me an email at this address and I’ll get one to you.

GROUP ASSIGNMENTS & EVENT SCHEDULE
As a reminder, each team has been assigned a division, either Newton or Einstein. On the schedule, you will note room assignments for each division as either N or E. Most events occur at the same times just in different classrooms, however, you will note that a handful of events occur at different times for each division. Note that all participants will receive same event materials regardless of classroom or time. Group assignments are available online at http://esoatjhs.org/2010groups.html. The 2010 ESO at JHS schedule grid is online at http://esoatjhs.org/2010schedule.html.

EVENT INFORMATION ONLINE
Please be sure to print out the Event Checklist and Rule Clarifications at http://www.esoatjhs.org/rules10.html which has notes on all of our 28 events. Our comprehensive Event Checklist lists practically all the information you need for each event in one convenient place.  You’ll see the time and location of each event, the number of participants, materials to bring, and rule clarifications.  Most of the common questions we have received over the years about each event are answered on that page.  And, some of the ESO at JHS events are not in the manual but available online in our Event Archive at http://www.esoatjhs.org/archive.html.

EVENTS WITH WRITTEN TESTS
Due to the large number of teams, many of our testing events will utilize a question book and separate answer sheet.  This will assist us in grading 30+ papers per event in the short time we have available.  While we will keep it as simple as possible, if your students are not used to this way of taking a test, some advice before the Olympiad may be useful. 

FOOD SERVICE & PIZZA ORDERS
The JHS PTO will be running a concession stand at the school on Olympiad day.  Among the items planned will be breakfast-type snacks (muffins, granola bars, fruit, cereal bars, etc), other snacks (donuts, crackers, fruit snacks, etc), along with water and juice bottles in the morning.  Then, after 11:00 am there will be soft drinks and candy available at lunch time to go with the pizza.  No candy will be served before lunch so that we can promote a little healthy eating!  All items will be priced at 50 cents or $1.  Of course, you are still welcome to bring a cooler (or three) full of drinks and other snacks for your students and supporters. 

And, then there’s the pizza.  Teams will be able to preorder pizzas for their students in an effort to cut costs for both your students and us.  We will offer pizza delivery from a local pizza chain.  If you would like to pre-order whole pizzas for your team, simply reply to this email.  The price is $7 for a large cheese pizza and $8 for a large pepperoni pizza.  Please order by February 23rd for your team.  We will deliver them right to your team's table in the cafeteria or your location in the gym when they arrive.  You may include the pizza cost in your entry fee on the morning of the Olympiad.  One check to JHS (or cash) is fine.  Please note that we will not offer by-the-slice sales this year.

MAPS OF JACKSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Need maps of Jacksonville High School to help your students find the rooms they need?  They are now online!  Visit the ESO News and Notes section for links to the 2010 maps: http://www.esoatjhs.org/news.html.  Note that there are different 1st floor maps for Newton and Einstein teams. Click on "Landscape" in the Page Setup for optimal printing.  Also, maps TO Jacksonville High School are also available at our web site to help your drivers.

EVENT ADMISSION TICKETS
Your school will need an ESO Admission Ticket to enter each event. Simply print out our new form at http://www.esoatjhs.org/tickets.pdf and fill it out for each event your school will be participating in.  Only one ticket is needed PER event NOT per student. The tickets help our event supervisors account for each team in the event and are used to announce the winners names during the awards ceremony. Therefore, we ask that a teacher complete the tickets (so we can read them) and include any pronunciation guides which may be helpful (I tend to mess up at least a dozen names every year!).

AWARDS CEREMONY
The Olympiad day culminates with the awards ceremony.  We keep our winning teams in all of our events a secret until this ceremony.  It should begin at approximately 2:30 in the Main Gym.  We will recognize the top 6 places (Newton and Einstein groups are combined then ranked overall) in each event.  In all, nearly 400 medals will be awarded to these stellar students during the ceremony.  We welcome all team supporters for the awards ceremony.  We hope to have all the participants seated on the gym floor while supporters can sit comfortably in the stands.

TEAM SCORING
In addition to recognizing our top participants in each event, teams also score points based on their participants’ finishes in each event.  This year we will award points to the top 20 teams in each event, with all teams receiving at least 1 point for participating.  For example, the school that finishes first in A is for Anatomy will receive 20 points, 2nd 19 points, and so on.  Places 21 through 33 will all receive 1 point.  The top 6 teams overall will be recognized with a team trophy at the conclusion of the afternoon awards ceremony.

PARKING & BASE CAMPS
When you arrive at JHS for the Olympiad, we ask that you proceed to the back of the school to park and enter through the doors to the Main Gym (Through the four-way stop, then left into the back parking lot). Additional parking will be available around our football stadium, which is adjacent to the school property.  The front parking lot is reserved for staff and handicap parking only. Signs will be posted to assist your drivers in finding the correct parking area.

For those new to ESO at JHS, we recommend the use of a "Base Camp" during the Olympiad day. Teams typically claim a table or two in our cafeteria or a seating section in our gymnasium to use as a meeting place for your participants when they are not competing in an event.  Due to the size of our field of participants, space will be extremely limited in the cafeteria, but all bleachers in the gymnasium will be available for teams to utilize.  The school opens at 7:45 am on Olympiad Saturday for those who wish to claim a spot.  In the past, teams have brought cards and board games to help occupy the down time for the students in addition to their studying for any events that they may be participating later in the day. 

Four events are also open to spectators, all in the Main Gym: Propeller Propulsion launches between 9:15 am and 10:45 am, Chopper Challenge between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm, Pastamobile launches begin at 1:00 pm, and Crash Landing drops start around 1:30 pm.

Good luck in your preparations. We look forward to seeing you and your team on the 27th.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at anytime via our Contact Us page.

Sincerely,
David Peters
Coordinator, ESO at JHS

Last Updated: February 12, 2010.