The competition will be intense when students from 55 elementary schools, 20 middle schools, and 15 high schools participate in one of two Palm Beach County SECME District Olympiads scheduled for February.
SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Enrichment) is a national organization with the goal of increasing the pool of students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce.
The Elementary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 11, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Santaluces High School.
The Secondary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 25, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Santaluces High School.
During each of the Olympiads, students will participate in a variety of competitions which will include bridges, mousetrap cars, water rockets, Brain Bowl, essays, poems, banners, and posters. The theme for this year’s SECME program is “Plan It٠Build It٠Live It!”. The winning entries in the essay and mousetrap car competitions will advance to the SECME National Student Competition which will be held in late June, at The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa.
Olympiad supporters include: Florida Atlantic University College of Engineering and Computer Science, Hazen and Sawyer, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, CH2M Hill, and FPL. Florida Atlantic University awards up to 25 four-year scholarships each year to qualified SECME students. SECME participation has been credited for encouraging career and occupational selections, stimulating college and university visitations, as well as establishing mentoring and internship programs for students with area businesses.
Bruce Wear, SECME district coordinator, says the competitions develop high-level thinking and problem-solving skills. “SECME is an excellent program that provides students with opportunities to apply “hands on” problem solving techniques to real engineering challenges. They get to design, test, re-design, and re-test until they produce a working model – pretty much the same way engineers do their jobs.”
For further information please contact Bruce Wear, 561- 357-1125 or email bruce.wear@palmbeachschools.org.
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