Academic Competitions

Last updated February 12, 2005


Academic competitions can serve several purposes:


High School Level


Organization
Program
Description
Contact
The American Computer Science League (ACSL) Computer Science Contest
ACSL organizes computer science contests and computer programming contests for junior and senior high school students. http://www.acsl.org/
DECA, An Association of Marketing students
DECA
DECA's co-curricular Competitive Events Program with more than $40,000 in cash awards annually to international competitive event winners http://www.deca.org/
Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda
FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference
FBLA-PBL’s National Awards Program recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas.
http://www.fbla-pbl.org/
Lincoln Center
Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival
The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival (EE) is unique among jazz programs for high school bands in the U.S. and Canada and American schools abroad. EE extends the legacy of Duke Ellington by widely disseminating his music, in its original arrangements, to high school musicians for study and performance. Utilizing Ellington's music challenges students to increase their musical proficiency and knowledge of the jazz language.
http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org
The Mathematical Association of America
AMC 10
AMC 12
The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) is dedicated to the goal of strengthening the mathematical capabilities of our nation’s youth. We believe that one way to meet this goal is to identify, recognize and reward excellence in mathematics through a series of national contests called the American Mathematics Contest 8 (AMC 8), the American Mathematics Contest 10 (AMC 10), the American Mathematics Contest 12 (AMC 12), the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), and the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). http://www.unl.edu/amc/
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Achievement Awards in Writing.
Promising Young Writers Program.
The awards recognize excellence in writing by high school juniors.
http://www.ncte.org/
National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts
ARTS (Arts Recognition and Talent Search)
Arts Recognition and Talent Search Program® (ARTS) Cash Awards, Scholarships, and Presidential Scholars in the Arts Awards for high school seniors and other 17- and 18- year-old artists in the disciplines of Dance, Film and Video, Jazz, Music, Photography, Theater, Visual Arts, Voice and Writing.
http://www.artsawards.org/
National History Day Organization
National History Day

NHD is a year-long education program that engages students in grades 6-12   in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries and research papers based on research related to an annual theme.  These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions.

http://nationalhistoryday.org/
National Scholastic Press Association
Journalism Contests and Critiques
NSPA and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation have co-sponsored the Pacemaker competition since 1971. NSPA began the awards in 1927.

Judges select Pacemakers based on the following: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, design, photography, art and graphics.

http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/
Science Olympiad Organization
Science Olympiad Tournaments
Science based competitions.
http://www.soinc.org/
Science Service
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
The world's largest pre-college science competition—provides an opportunity for the best young scientists from around the globe to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects, and compete for over $3 million in awards and scholarships.
http://www.sciserv.org/
Technology Student Association (TSA)
TSA National Competitive Events
Imagine an activity so captivating that your students spend hours working on it after school for weeks at a time. That's exactly what happens when TSA members start working on their entries in TSA's competitions. Only TSA members have the opportunity to compete at exciting state conferences and the National conference, one of the highlights for any TSA member. Expert judging by technology educators and industry representatives inspires the best from participants. Members are rewarded not only with medals or trophies but also with memories of the camaraderie and the challenge of a TSA conference.
http://www.tsaweb.org/

Middle School Level

Organization
Program
Description
Contact
FIRST Lego League
Robotics Tournament
FIRST LEGO League inspires future scientists and engineers. Guided by imagination and adult mentors, teams of FLL students, 9 to 14, face real world engineering challenges, discover career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society. FLL is a result of a partnership between FIRST and LEGO Company and offers the opportunity to design, build and program robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS� technology, learn teamwork and other life skills, and research challenges facing today's scientists.
http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/flego.htm
Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda
FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference
FBLA-PBL’s National Awards Program recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas.
http://www.fbla-pbl.org/
The Mathematical Association of America AMC 8
The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) is dedicated to the goal of strengthening the mathematical capabilities of our nation’s youth. We believe that one way to meet this goal is to identify, recognize and reward excellence in mathematics through a series of national contests called the American Mathematics Contest 8 (AMC 8), the American Mathematics Contest 10 (AMC 10), the American Mathematics Contest 12 (AMC 12), the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), and the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). http://www.unl.edu/amc/index.html
National Geographic Society
National Geographic Bee
Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/
National History Day  Organization National History Day NHD is a year-long education program that engages students in grades 6-12   in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries and research papers based on research related to an annual theme.  These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions. http://nationalhistoryday.org/
Science Olympiad Organization Science Olympiad Tournaments Science based competitions. http://www.soinc.org/
Science Service Intel International Science and Engineering Fair The world's largest pre-college science competition—provides an opportunity for the best young scientists from around the globe to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects, and compete for over $3 million in awards and scholarships. http://www.sciserv.org/
Technology Student Association (TSA)
TSA National Competitive Events
Imagine an activity so captivating that your students spend hours working on it after school for weeks at a time. That's exactly what happens when TSA members start working on their entries in TSA's competitions. Only TSA members have the opportunity to compete at exciting state conferences and the National conference, one of the highlights for any TSA member. Expert judging by technology educators and industry representatives inspires the best from participants. Members are rewarded not only with medals or trophies but also with memories of the camaraderie and the challenge of a TSA conference.
http://www.tsaweb.org/


Links
The National Association of Student Councils (NASC)
http://nasccms.principals.org