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Dear Spring Hill families,
Please see the following information regarding the Science Olympiad opportunities for students next year. Please note that this is organized through our SHES parents volunteers.
SHES VASO Division A and Division B - Team Formation for 2025/2026
SHES VASO Division A and Division B - Team Formation for 2025/2026
The Virginia Science Olympiad (VASO) is a great opportunity for kids passionate about science to team up with their schoolmates and compete against great minds from schools all across VA. The three VASO divisions include Division A - Grades 3 through 5, Division B - Grades 5 through 8 and Division C - Grades 9 through 12. For Elementary school, the relevant divisions are A and B. A fifth grader can participate in Division A or B (but not both) in any given year. In 2024, for Div A, Spring Hill Mavericks was the highest scoring team in VA with 24 medals (also the highest scoring team in the history of VASO) and Spring Hill Wizards had 17 medals. In 2025, for VASO Div B Spring Hill Panthers came 14/23 in the state tournament.
Currently, we are soliciting interest from parents for participation in Division A (Grades 3-5) and Div B (Grades 5-8). You can find out more details about the type of events for Division A and Division B here:
https://www.virginiaso.org/div-a
https://www.virginiaso.org/div-bc
The fundamental difference for a 5th grader is - in division A they will participate against their peers in schools all over Virginia in grades three through five whereas is in division B they will compete with middle school and fifth and sixth grade elementary school kids all over Virginia.
SHES can have up to 3 teams for each Division and each team can have up to 15 kids. Being a primarily parent led effort, we need parent coaches and volunteers to support the preparatory and participatory needs of the Division A and B team(s).
Typically, for DivA, the commitment will be to work individually with your kids starting now to the competition timeframe in November 2025, especially taking advantage of the summer break as well as to participate in weekly team activities once school is back in session from August to November 2025. Division B kids will start preparation from May 2025 to April/May 2026.
Parents will also be expected to financially contribute for the cost of competition registration, preparatory materials and travel/hotel expenses when participating in the regional competitions (within VA). Kids with a burning passion for science coupled with parents who are interested in mentoring their kids along with their kids’ teams and with flexibility participating in weekly meetings and competition related travel will be ideal candidates for the SHES team(s). We will be holding an SHES information session in the SHES library on April 10, 2025 from 4 PM to 5 PM for interested parents. Look forward to seeing everyone!
Please note: parents will have to leave the school at five pm and then come back at 5:30 pm for the bingo night.
Sent on behalf of our SHES Science Olympiad Coaches
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