student programs

A national scholastic competition designed to stimulate intellectual growth and encourage greater respect for knowledge. The Academic Decathlon curriculum addresses a number of national content and curriculum standards and tests students of all skill levels in 10 events: economics, math, science, social science, literature, art, music, essay, speech and interview. Teams consist of nine students from each GPA category: honor (3.75-4.00), scholastic (3.00-3.749) and varsity (0.0-2.999), as well as alternates.  Competitions range from local scrimmages to national contests.

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Get ready for the Decathlon: The rapidly-growing Pentathlon program allows middle school students a chance to start experiencing the benefits of Academic Decathlon ahead of schedule.
 
Academic Pentathlon, the newest program of United States Academic Decathlon and the premier national scholastic competition for middle school students, was created to provide opportunities for students to experience the challenges of rigorous team and individual competition. The USAD curriculum addresses a number of national education content and curriculum standards. Each student competes in five events, which are Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, and Social Science.

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South Central Service Cooperative offers three regional scholastic chess tournaments annually in the fall, winter and in the spring. These tournaments are one-day events to celebrate youth and chess. Competition is open to students in grades K–12. Individual awards include medals for first, second and third place in each competition level.

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The Future City Competition (FCC) is a national, cross-curricular program that lets students in grades 6–8 do the things engineers do:  identify problems, brainstorm ideas, design solutions, test and retest, build and then share the results.
 
FCC runs from September to January. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to develop a project plan; create a virtual city design with SimCity™ software; research and write a proposed solution to an engineering challenge; build a tabletop city model with recycled materials; and present their ideas before judges. Future City Minnesota culminates at the regional competition. The first place winner receives a free trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Future City Competition.
 
Minnesota public, private, and home schools, as well as organized youth groups (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, Boys & Girls Club, etc.), are welcome to form teams and compete in Future City. The registration fee is just $25 (for any number of teams).

For more information and to register, please visit: www.futurecity.org/Minnesota

Girls Who Code Clubs are free programs for 3–5 and 6–12 grade girls, female-identifying and non-binary students to join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models using computer science to change the world. GWC is an international nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology.
When you sign up to start a Club, you’ll gain access to 120+ hours of flexible curriculum featuring sisterhood activities, lessons about women in tech, self-guided coding tutorials for all skill levels in a variety of programming languages including Scratch, Python, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and p5.js, and more. All training and materials are free, and no coding experience is needed for you or your students!
A typical Club generally meets 1–2 hours for 10–15+ sessions during the year, but you’ll have the flexibility to fully customize a schedule that works for you—whether you’re meeting virtually or in-person. We have Clubs as small as three members, to as big as 30+! Clubs can be hosted through a school, library, university or other non-profit.
Make sure to list South Central Service Cooperative as your Community Partner on the last page of the application to get even more support and swag for your Club! 
For more information or to start a club in your area, please visit https://girlswhocode.com or email info@girlswhoecode.com.

Teams of students compete in one written and three oral rounds of competition in this interdisciplinary event requiring quick recall and team work. Questions are taken from the standard curriculum for the grades. Teams of junior and senior high students participate in invitational, sub-regional, regional and state events (senior high only).

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Welcome to LifeSmarts! Here you’ll learn about consumer issues that impact your everyday life – everything from managing your finances, making smart consumer choices, understanding technology, staying healthy, and helping the environment – all with the goal of putting you in charge.

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Math Masters of Minnesota invites all fifth and sixth grade students across the state to participate in regional events where they compete as individuals and in teams. Students receive recognition for their excellence in mathematical skills. Math Masters shows students that their math fundamentals pay off in this valuable academic experience!  Awards are presented to winning students in each component of the competition.

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Students in grades 6-8 are invited to participate in the Math Mania Tournament where teams of five students compete by demonstrating mathematical thinking and problem solving. Students will compete in individual and team rounds with awards for both components. 
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Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board and SCSC. More >>

Reach for the Stars is a free guide listing more than 120 academic enrichment programs and activities for K-12 students that have been reviewed and approved by the Minnesota Academic League Council. It is compiled, published and distributed as a public service by Synergy & Leadership Exchange with generous support from the South Central Service Cooperative and the Minnesota Service Cooperatives.

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The goal of the conference is to give students an academic enrichment experience that allows them to delve deeper into the science and nature topics they love. It is designed to expose students to a vast variety of topics and delivers highly educational hands-on sessions. Many forms of science and nature will be represented to give students the opportunity to learn how science plays a part in our world, environment, home, space, earth, life and technology. Instruction is innovative, active and designed by grade level for maximum student learning and participation. Students will attend an opening program and will self select three sessions to attend for the rest of the day.

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SkillsUSA is a national student organization serving students enrolled in career and technical education training programs at our nation’s public high schools and colleges. SkillsUSA’s mission is to help its members become world-class workers and responsible American citizens. SkillsUSA complements technical skill training with instruction in the employability skills that make a well-rounded worker and citizen. Founded in 1965, the organization has served more than 11.2 million workers through active partnerships between employers and educators. SkillsUSA is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and state departments of education and is cited in federal legislation as an integral part of the technical curriculum.

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South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) sponsors the Spelling Bee for the South Central Region of Minnesota. Students participating in the regional event have won their local district event. The winner goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. the first week in June. 

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The SCSC Writing Contest gives students a chance to express themselves by writing fiction, non-fiction or poetry. This program was established to encourage the love of language and writing for all students and as a way to recognize the talented young writers in south central Minnesota. SCSC is partnering with Minnesota State University, Mankato on this program.

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The Young Writers & Artists Conference (YWAC) offers students the opportunity to explore a variety of subjects related to writing and creative arts. YWAC utilizes a number of authors, artists, educators, experienced writers, and business leaders as conference facilitators. These local and regional talents inspire youth and encourage them to take their own talents to new levels. Session topics may include, but not be limited to: poetry, fiction writing, character and plot development, illustration/cartooning, theater art, music, graphic design, journalism, science fiction, humor, screen plays, calligraphy, etc.

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