Coaches,

Happy New Year from the ESO at JHS staff.  In just over 6 weeks from now we look forward to hosting your school at our 25th annual Elementary Science Olympiad at Jacksonville High School.  ESO at JHS 2018 is set for Saturday, February 24th.
 
Here are some highlights that you need to be aware of as you continue to get ready for this year's Olympiad.

In this ESO News Update...
+ ESO AT JHS REGISTRATION FEE
+ GROUP ASSIGNMENTS & EVENT SCHEDULE
+ EVENT CHECKLIST ONLINE
+ COACHES CONFERENCE CALLS
+ PRE-REGISTRATION
+ FOOD SERVICE & PIZZA ORDERS

ESO AT JHS REGISTRATION FEE
The Elementary Science Olympiad at Jacksonville High School will once again assess a team fee for 2018 to assist us with financing our large competition.

In order to offer a fair fee for teams, both large and small, the fee for competing teams will be computed on a per-participant basis. ESO at JHS will assess $3 per participant fee, paid in one lump amount by each team. Therefore, a team with the maximum of 24 students would owe $72. A team with just 10 students would be charged just $30. This fee will be due on the day of the Olympiad. Cash or check payable to Jacksonville High School. We will provide an invoice by email prior to the Olympiad based on your preregistration documents (tentative team roster) to assist with processing payment.  And, the ESO at JHS staff will have a receipt available upon payment on Olympiad Saturday.

We will begin sending invoices to team coaches on February 7th, based on the information we receive in your preregistration submissions (see below).

Additional information regarding the ESO at JHS participant fee can be found online on our registration page.

GROUP ASSIGNMENTS & EVENT SCHEDULE
The ESO at JHS once again will host a large number of schools in 2018.  We are happy to welcome a record 36 teams to Jacksonville for the competition.  This year we will continue our 3-group approach to scheduling.  Each team has been assigned to one of the following groups: Newton, Hubble, or Einstein.  As always, the materials stay the same regardless of the classroom or the time period your team is participating.

By the end of January, you will see school maps with event rooms labeled for all groups available on our web site.  You can see the group assignments online now.  The 2017 ESO at JHS schedule grid is also online. We will also have schedules posted by group assignment to make it easier for you to decipher all the schedule information.

EVENT CHECKLIST ONLINE
View our comprehensive ESO at JHS 2018 Event Checklist which lists practically all the information you need for each event in one convenient place.  You’ll see the time of each event, the number of participants, materials to bring, and rule clarifications.  Rooms will be added later this month.  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. Note that we have added new study links for many of this year’s events in the online Event Archive.

COACHES CONFERENCE CALLS
We are excited to offer the opportunity for team coaches to chat with ESO at JHS staff members and get quick answers to your questions during two conference call sessions this year.  Our first session was held in December. And, we are planning our second and final call for Wednesday, January 31st from 3:15 pm until 4:00 pm.  Look for this email for call-in numbers and details. If you cannot join us then, feel free to email questions and we’ll respond as quickly as possible.

PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Prior to Friday, February 2nd, please take a moment to submit your school's tentative team roster and event registration information to us. The info is needed to complete your team's registration for this year's Olympiad. Basically, we need a tentative listing of the students on your team. This roster is flexible and may change up to the morning of the Olympiad. Also, we need to know the events in which your team will be participating to assist in our planning. Simply click on the links on the front page to submit your team's information. Again, all through the web. Rosters and event registration info must be submitted to us by Friday, February 2nd.

FOOD SERVICE & PIZZA ORDERS
The JHS PTO / Varsity Soccer Boosters 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 11:30 am there will be soft drinks and candy available at lunch time to go with the pizza.  Hot dogs, nachos, and chili are new additions to the lunch menu this year.  No candy will be served before lunch so that we can promote a little healthy eating!  All items will be priced between 50 cents and $2.  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.  Teams will be able to preorder pizzas for their students in an effort to cut costs for both your students and us. We will be accepting orders beginning in early February so please be thinking about how many pizzas your team may want, if interested.  We will have limited by-the-slice sales.  Look for information on ordering pizzas in our next email, which should be sent at the beginning of February.

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: January 9, 2018.