More than 500 high students from Missouri will be in Fulton Saturday for the Missouri State Science Olympiad at Westminster College.
The event is a state-wide competition which focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. It has been held at the University of Missouri - Columbia, previously. For the next five years, it will be held at Westminster in Fulton.
Students will compete in "active, hands-on team activities from a wide range of subjects such as forensics, bridge building, geological mapping, bungee drops and rocket building," a Westminster press release stated.
The release also stated that the college's faculty, staff and students will serve as judges during the competition. The 500 visiting students and their families will also have free admission to the National Churchill Museum that day. Visiting students, the release stated, will also have an opportunity to sign up for the college's summer STEM Academy, a four-day hand-on research and lab at which students will earn one hour of college credit.
The Science Olympiad is a non-profit which focuses on science education. Patty Palmietto, State Olympiad director, told the Fulton Sun that the non-profit chose Westminster for the friendly environment.
"We were looking for a place that embraced Science Education," Palmietto said in an email interview, "We found the college and faculty to be very friendly, very down to earth and very eager to have these students visit their facility."
Palmietto stated in the release that the non-profit's board of directors are excited about the competition's move to Westminster.
"Because of the well-kept secret of Westminster's beauty and fabulous college, we will not have to compete for rooms and spaces, and with the smaller campus, students will not have to go as far for the changing of rooms during competitions. Their new Science Center is truly a sight to see. Very large and spacious labs with great working lab areas," Palmietto stated in the release.