PRESS KIT INSTRUCTIONS

Dear Coach:

Congratulations on your participation in the Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament. This press kit is designed to help you spread the word in your community about your team’s accomplishment.

The sample press release can be adapted for local use. Just insert pertinent information in the blanks and then forward this news release to the education reporter or news editor at your hometown newspaper and local radio and television stations. And, don’t forget to provide the information to your school newspaper as well.

Also included is a press release on the featured speaker for the opening ceremony, NASA scientist Jack Bacon.

On any information you provide to media, be sure to include your name and a telephone number where you can be reached to verify information. If you include a photo of your group, be sure to identify everyone in the photo, from left to right.
RELEASE ON SPEAKER

NASA scientist to address Science Olympiad Invitational

Jack Bacon, an expert in spacecraft integration and in aerospace systems architectures, will be the keynote speaker at the Invitational Science Olympiad tournament, scheduled Jan. 25-26 at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del. Mr. Bacon, a NASA scientist, will speak at the opening ceremony on Jan. 25.

Mr. Bacon works at the Johnson Space Center as systems integration lead of numerous Russian and American spacecraft, including the Zarya' (also known by its Russian acronym: FGB): the first element and bridge module of the new International Space Station, launched November 20, 1998.

His duties at NASA have included several assignments in the integrated architecture, design and operations of the Shuttle and of all systems in the US, Russian, Japanese, European and Canadian elements of the International Space Station. His duties have taken him to space development facilities all over the world, including previously secret Russian installations.

He has presented NASA topics on all levels to worldwide audiences, and on numerous radio and TV events. He is an award-winning author, whose current book is "My Grandfathers' Clock," a nonfiction work that traces the development of technology and society through 28 known generations of his family, dating from medieval times to today.

Bacon received his bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1976, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in 1978 and 1984, respectively, from the University of Rochester, where he worked on laser-fusion power reactors, fusion propulsion systems and on microgravity fluid surfaces.

A former sailplane pilot, scuba diver and skydiver, he volunteers regularly as a test subject in numerous NASA flight medicine and physiology experiments and has logged more than 30 minutes of zero-gravity experience in medical test programs aboard parabolic aircraft flights. He is an applicant in the current astronaut selection round.
SAMPLE STUDENT RELEASE

Local students to participate in Science Olympiad Invitational at University of Delaware January 25-16, 2002

For more information on your local team, contact team coach __________________ at ____________________.

Young scientists from ______________________ will participate in the Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament to be held Jan. 25-26 at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.

The _______ students are coached by ________________, who teaches _____________ at the school. Team members include ____________, ____________.____________and ____________, who are in the ___ grade.

[You may wish to add information here about some of your group’s activities, previous awards, etc.]

Some 1,800 high school and middle school students from across the nation will participate in the tournament’s 46 competitions, half for middle school teams and half for high school teams. Competitions include such activities as

  • "Battery Buggy," in which teams must construct a battery-powered vehicle to traverse a specified course;
  •  "Cow-A-Bungee," in which a mass attached to an elastic cord is dropped and must come as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing zone;
  • "Feathered Frenzy," in which students demonstrate knowledge of how birds interact within their populations and with the environment;
  • "Mission Possible," which involves construction of a Rube Goldberg-like device to accomplish a specific task;
  • "Science Crime Busters," in which students must correctly identify liquid and solid materials in a crime scenario; and
  • "The Wright Stuff," in which participants must construct and fly an airplane driven by rubber bands.

In addition to the competition, the Invitational will include an opening ceremony featuring a parade of participants, a keynote address by NASA scientist Jack Bacon and mistress of ceremonies meteorologist Kathy Orr of NBC 10 in Philadelphia.

Both the opening ceremony at 6 p.m., Jan. 25, and the concluding awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 26, will be broadcast live over the World Wide Web at www.udel.edu/scienceolympiad.

The event is a prelude to the Science Olympiad National Tournament, which will be held May 17-18 at UD. Both events are sponsored by UD and DuPont, in cooperation with the National Science Olympiad and the Delaware Science Olympiad.

Delaware is the birthplace of the National Olympiad (the first competition was held at Delaware State University 26 years ago), and DuPont has been the national sponsor since its inception.

The Science Olympiad is a national organization dedicated to improving science education by fostering a passion among students, creating links between private enterprise and schools, improving curriculum and providing recognition for scientific achievement.

For information on the Invitational or the National Tournament, see the tournament web site at www.udel.edu/scienceolympiad.

Contact:
Name ______________________________
Telephone Number________________________
Date _________