The Region VII tournament of the Missouri Science Olympiad was held on February 21, 2009, on the campus of Missouri State University. Nearly 600 students, teachers, and other supervising adults came to Missouri State to take part in competitive events related to science, math, and engineering. The students represented 21 high school and 26 middle school teams from 22 counties in southwest Missouri. Twenty-three events were held for both divisions, although events varied between each. The events focused on many aspects of science and could generally be classified into three different types of competition: science knowledge, science process skills, and technology/applica¬tion. Various members of the Missouri State community judged the events. The Missouri State community did an excellent job preparing for and running the events. Adam Crane served as the Region VII Science Olympiad coordinator in addition to his duties as a Biology Department lab supervisor.
The Region VII tournament of the Missouri Science Olympiad encourages scientific interest and excitement in the students of southwest Missouri. It also gives Missouri State University and the College of Natural and Applied Sciences the opportunity to showcase their commitment to the sciences and the value they place on student success.