Science Olympiad National Tournament

Hi everyone, my name is Maynard Maglaya, 7/8 grade math and science teacher. I’m the Science Olympiad coach for our Division B team called Bazinga and which won state finals at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and received an invitational to compete in the Science Olympiad National Tournament in Wichita State University, Kansas, on May 19th-20th, to represent the whole state of Alaska.

I have a team of 12 students that consists of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who will be going up against 59 other teams in the nationals. Science Olympiad, founded in 1984, is the premier team STEM competition in the nation, providing standards-based challenges to 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states.

We are fundraising to raise money to pay for our trip to nationals. We estimated that our trip will cost around $20,000 to cover our round trip tickets, hotel, rental car, materials for our build projects, and food expenses. The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) contributed $3000 to our trip and we’re hoping to reach out to more sponsors to help us achieve our goal. 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our middle schoolers to represent the entire state of Alaska in the Science Olympiad National Competition. Think about how much of an impact this will do on their education and how it will influence their academic plans for their future in the STEM field. We appreciate any amount donated towards our goal and we hope that you support our students on their journey to this year’s Science Olympiad National Tournament.