Fall Activities starting at Junior High

The following activities are available for 8th graders this fall: Invent Iowa, Future Problem Solvers, Community Problem Solvers, Future City, and Mock Trial.

Mock Trial teams have already been selected and work has begun. The regional competition will be held on Saturday, October 29 at the Scott County Courthouse. Meetings will be held during class times (5th and 6th period) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday of each week, and there will be after school meetings held once a week, generally on Monday evenings.

Future City, Future Problem Solvers, and Community Problem Solver teams will be chosen and work will begin next Tuesday.

The following activities are available for 7th graders this fall: Invent Iowa, Future Problem Solvers, Mock Trial, and possibly Future City (dependent on funding and engineer mentors).

Mock Trial teams will be selected this week and students will be notified. The school competition will be held late in October and 7th graders will compete against each other. More info to be distributed soon.

Future Problem Solvers teams will be selected and work will begin next week.

Fall Activities starting at High School

A meeting was held to talk about opportunities to be a part of TAG fall activities at the high school this year. This fall, the opportunities include Future Problem Solvers, Community Problem Solvers, Scenario Writing, and others still to come. At the meeting, FPS and CmPS teams were chosen and subsequent meetings scheduled. The topics this year are:

•  Practice Problem #1 - All in a Day's Work (due in October)
• Practice Problem #2 - Coral Reefs (due in December)
• Qualifying Problem - Human Rights (January 31 at the AEA)
• State Problem - Trade Barriers (in April at Iowa State University)

Meetings will be held weekly with the times to be determined by the students. These are also the topics for Scenario Writing this year. The first scenario writing meeting will be held Friday, September 2 during 2nd block. Materials will be distributed and subsequent meetings will be scheduled during this time. Scenarios are due in December.

Math Olympiads Results

The North Scott Junior High Math Olympiad team met to receive their awards on Wednesday. Each student on the team scored above an 8, so all received a Math Olympiad patch. Students scoring silver pins were Tanner Greve, Hope Yates, and Ryder Hubner. Students scoring gold pins were Evan Hundley, Michael Wedemyer, and Jacob Willet. Jacob also received a trophy for the top scorer on the team with a score of 25. He also received the "" medallion for a perfect score. Great job to all members on the team!

The Road Less Traveled - Junior High Version

On April 28, 5 Junior High and 1 Neil Armstrong student attended the 7-9 version of "The Road Less Traveled" career conference hosted by the Program of Women in Science and Engineering at Iowa State University. This conference was similar to the one two weeks ago that the high school students attended. Students attended 5 sessions related to careers in the field of science and engineering including engineering, virtual reality, and biomechanics. Students attending the conference were: Evan Hundley, Sydney Evitts, Kelci Page, Sonya Haan, Ali Watkins, and Jaelyn Mulligan.

ACCEL Interviews Beginning

13 North Scott 6th grade students have been granted interviews for the 2 year advance math and science program out of 50 applicants. Students who applied had to complete an application form, receive 2 letters of merit from their teachers, and take both the Science MAP test and the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test. Of the 50 that applied, 13 had scores high enough to take them to the next level - the interview and essay component. Starting later this week and on to next week, students from all 5 elementary schools will be traveling with their TAG teachers to the Junior High to complete an essay and to meet for an interview with Ms. Redmond, Mrs. Ulrich, and Mr. Braack. After all interviews and essays have been completed, final decisions will be made. Good luck to all 13 students!

The Road Less Traveled - Women's Career Conference

On April 14, 5 North Scott freshmen girls traveled with Ms. Redmond to Iowa State University for the biannual women's career conference. This conference is called "The Road Less Traveled" and is sponsored by the Program for Women in Science and Engineering. Students traveled to 5 different sessions on future careers and technologies. They dined on campus for lunch and headed back to Eldridge after the sessions were over. It was a great learning experience.

Future Problem Solving State Competition

On April 8 and 9, 19 North Scott students traveled to Ames, Iowa to Iowa State University to compete at the state Iowa Future Problem Solving Bowl. North Scott Junior High was represented by 2 middle division teams and 1 middle individual competitor. In Community Problem Solving, North Scott was represented by one 8th grade team and one 9th grade team. A team from Alan Shepard elementary also competed that day. Students arrived on campus at Iowa State and after opening ceremonies, headed outside for the famous memento exchange. Each school brought mementos to exchange and share with the other students.After the memento exchange, FPS students sat down for a grueling 2 hours to complete their packet on Water Quality. The following day, students performed skits based on their action plans and then headed off to the awards ceremony. Although none of the North Scott FPS students advanced to International Competition, all did a great job and represented their school district well. At the awards competition, both of North Scott's Community Problem Solving teams received their medals and trophies and were able to talk about their projects. Great job to all who participated. It was a great weekend!

North Scott Community Hunger Fighters go to International!

North Scott Community Hunger Fighters Carlie Mullins, Christine Hultquist, Miranda Hale, and Stephanie Konrady placed 1st in their division of Community Problem Solvers at the state level. The girls have been working on the same problem of pet hunger for the past 2 years and recently were evaluated on their 6 page report and addendum. The girls will present their project at state competition at Iowa State University on April 9 and will then prepare for International Competition to be held in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in June. This is a 4 day event with students from 12 countries and 40 states attending. Great work girls!

NSNE wins 2nd place

North Scott Nuclear Education (NSNE)  group Nick Jamison, Alex Bare, Dan Stutting, and Kirk Kreiter recently placed 2nd at state competition for Community Problem Solving. The boys completed a 6 page final report and addendum for evaluation highlighting their work this year on educating the public on what to do in case of a nuclear disaster. The boys will be traveling to Iowa State University on April 9 to display their work and make a presentation. They will receive their ribbons this day. Way to go boys!

I-Series Conference

On Thursday, March 25, four North Scott Junior High students traveled to Iowa State University for an I-Series Conference hosted by the Office of Precollegiate Talented and Gifted Students. At this conference, students attended 3 sessions on investigations, including an investigation on chemical reactions. Students ate lunch on campus and attended a tour of Iowa State as well. Students attending were eighth grade students Kelci Page and Rebekah Arana and seventh grade students Sonya Haan and Elizabeth Ferry.

FPS Students Make State!

In January, 5 NSJH teams and 1 individual competed in a regional Future Problem Solving competition held at Camanche High School. Their packets were sent in to be scored by evaluators across the state. 2 of these teams and individual Rebekah Arana scored high enough to compete at the state level in April. On April 8 and 9, eighth graders Nick Arp, Alex Freeman, Grant Graham, and Tanner Greve, and seventh graders Sonya Haan, Allison Stutting, TJ Kilian, and Justin Schwarz, along with eighth grader Rebekah Arana will be traveling to Iowa State University in Ames to compete against other teams from the state of Iowa. The topic they will be competing on is Water Quality. On Friday, April 8, students will spend 2 hours completing the packet and then work on their skits. Their skits will be presented on Saturday, April 9, with winners being announced that day. Winners of the state competition will move on to International Competition in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in June. Wish them luck!

High School Mock Trial Competition

On Saturday, March 5, eight North Scott High School students competed against 11 other teams in the region at the Iowa Mock Trial Regional Competition. Their first match was against Dubuque and their second match was against Pleasant Valley. The team did an outstanding job representing North Scott and Travis Reed was recognized as an outstanding attorney and Hannah Kroeger was recognized as an outstanding witness. The team consisted of seniors Travis Reed and Amanda Ploof, junior Ashley Raleigh, sophomore Brittany Bunch, and freshmen Hannah Kroeger, Athalie Oladipofaniyi, Taryn Pepping, and Alex Karnish.

Regional Spelling Bee

On Wednesday, March 2nd, 74 area 5-8th grade students competed in the 31st Annual Regional Spelling Bee hosted by the Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch. Seven North Scott students were in attendance. Prizes were awarded to the top 6 winners. North Scott Junior High 8th grade student Shane Scull was awarded the 4th place prize, which consisted of a medallion and a Merriam-Webster's 3 piece Desk Reference Set. Congratulations to Shane for a job well done and a great job representing North Scott!

Greenovation Conference

On Wednesday, March 2, North Scott students Erin Mead, Gretchen Mohr, Sean Allchin, and Zach Breneman attended the Quad Cities' first Greenovation Conference. This conference was hosted by student Jonathon O'Leary from Bettendorf High School and was held at St. Ambrose University. The conference was designed to bring "green" ideas back to area high schools. Students from 10 area high schools attended the conference and listened to guest speakers and attended breakout sessions to learn about local environmental issues. After lunch, the students met as high school groups to create goals for their high schools and to paint a rock symbolizing their schools and goals.

Future Problem Solvers Regional Bowl

On Wednesday, January 19, 15 North Scott teams and 2 individuals traveled to Camanche with their coaches to compete in a regional FPS bowl. This is the first time that North Scott FPS teams have traveled outside of North Scott to compete. The competition was held at Camanche High School and included junior teams from both Camanche and Pleasant Valley. North Scott represented well with 10 junior teams, 5 middle teams, 1 middle individual, and 1 senior individual. Students had 2 hours to work on their qualifying problem, which dealt with the subject of genetic testing. After the packets were completed, students ate lunch and prepared for skits dealing with their action plans. Students then had a chance to present their skits using various props, including the mystery prop - a ping pong paddle.  Packets were sent to evaluators and will be returned in the beginning of March. At that time, teams that qualified for the state level will be notified and begin preparing for the state competition to be held in Ames on April 8 and 9.

Students participating:
7th Grade: Mikaela Mikkelsen, Ryan Rivard, Walker Gentz, Tyler Costello, Justin Schwarz, Allie Stutting, T.J. Kilian, Sonya Haan, Corbyn Heppe, Garrett Smith, Crystal DeWulf, Emily Drenter.

8th Grade: Rebekah Arana, Nick Arp, Alex Freeman, Grant Graham, Tanner Greve, Kelci Page, Eric Petersen, Hailey Willerth, Grace Andersen, Lindy Young (alternate)

12th Grade: T.J. Reed