WELCOME TO THE FSMS SCIENCE BOWL 2025 - 2026 SEASON AT THE FORT!

Our two initial informational meetings will be: Monday August 25 and Tuesday August 26, 2025 in room 312 from 4:15 - 5:00 pm. A final information meeting (required by all who plan to compete) will be September 2, 2025 in room 312 to finish sign-up and go over tournament rules for the following week when the tournament begins.


Please note that these clubs, competitions and meetings are for students. 

Parents, you are welcome to email me about any questions, but Mr. Peugnet and I do not meet with parents during our school day for extra-curricular clubs, that time is reserved for our time to prepare for our classes and to assist parents and students for academic matters.  Email is the correspondence method and any parent meetings that are held in person will be once teams are headed to regionals to help parents who might need information about travel, location, format and other things related to regionals or beyond that.

Science Bowl at the Fort has been a popular club competition since it started in 2013.  Fort Settlement has attended regionals every year since 2014, won regionals six times and attended nationals in Washington DC six times.  We have won 1 National title in 2015 and placed in the top 10 in all of our visits to the competition, in 2015,2016,2019,2023, 2024, and 2025 (we competed in the finals and placed 2nd!)

Science Bowl is a competitive team competition that involves quiz bowl buzzer like question rounds. IT IS NOT A SILENT TEST COMPETITION!!! For exact details and rules of how Science Bowl competition works check out the National Science Bowl webpage.

FSMS SCIENCE BOWL 2025 - 2026  WILL HOST A FSMS TOURNAMENT TO DETERMINE WHO WILL MAKE UP THE 3 FSMS SCIENCE BOWL TEAMS!!! 

Students must form teams of four to five members and sign up to compete in the tournament by the sign-up deadline: September 2, 2025 in rm 312.  If you are new to the Fort and do not have a team we will take individuals and place them on teams so that they may have a chance to compete in the tournament. Only students can sign up, parents cannot sign up for their student or their team!!

FSMS SCIENCE BOWL TOURNAMENT DETERMINES THE TOP 3 TEAMS: 

Teams must sign up as a group of 5 (4 minimum) to compete in the tournament by September 2, 2025.  I will have a sign-up list of students needing a team so we can put those kids as a team so they can compete in the tournament.  The Tenative Tournament Schedule:

The tournament will run on all of the following days, from 4:20 - 6:00 pm:  

Tuesday September 9 

Thursday September 11

Monday September 15 

Tuesday September 16

Monday September 22

Tuesday September 23

Monday September 29

9/8 and 9/9 are Group Round Robins to determine the seeding of the bracket.  Due to the number of teams and the limited time for the competition, it will be a single elimination tournament after the round-robin section. The 1st place team will be team 1, 2nd place team will be team 2. The 3rd place team will be determined from a round played by the last two teams that lose to the final two teams facing off for 1st and 2nd. 

AUTHENTIC COMPETITION STYLE:

The best way to do the tournament is this format - to have teams of five sign up to compete - why teams? It is important that the team is close and willing to practice outside of school beyond the weekly practice meeting at school each week. Team dynamic is very important. Teams that self-build have a stronger overall commitment to both the students and parents. It is also more likely that they have already been practicing and have determined whose best categories and roles are on a team.

EXPECTATIONS: 

Good Sportsmanship Is Required!

It is never appropriate for a parent or another student in an open forum or in any public matter to make reference to another student or child in a negative manner. While you may not do well in the tournament or be on a selected team, those types of comments and that kind of behavior are unsportsmanlike and below the caliber of our school. Every student that made our teams in the past deserved to be there and deserved to compete. If you as a parent are going to let your student try out, or you are a student that is going to try out, you are expected to display good sportsmanship and behavior no matter what the outcome of the tournament yields. 

COACHING: VERY IMPORTANT ! YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT IN REGARD TO THIS IF YOUR TEAM ADVANCES!

Coach for FSMS: Karen Staley

Co-Coach for FSMS: Forrest Peugnet

THE ONLY COACHES FOR FSMS SCIENCE BOWL TEAMS ARE THE 2 COACHES LISTED ABOVE. PARENT/SIBLINGS CANNOT ACT AS A COACH AT ANY EVENT/COMPETITION WHERE THE TEAMS ARE REPRESENTING FSMS!!

While we appreciate that you want to help your student teams become stronger by out of school practices and training, it does not mean in any way that you or an older sibling are the actual coach of the team.  If a parent or sibling attends a regional or any other event, they are only allowed to spectate from their seats and with the understanding that they are not the team's coach, they are just a supporter!  They may not approach the competition table area or attempt to coach the team in any way during a round or even at half time of a round, and they may at no time interact with any of the officials running the competition.  They may not interject themselves into team pictures that are going to be used by FSMS, the regional event or national event.  This requirement is based on complaints received at our national event and the region we represented at nationals.

 
It is important to note that although 3 teams will be registered, Texas A&M does not always approve all 3 teams to attend.  The top team, team 1 is automatically accepted while team 2 and team 3 will have to wait to see how many other schools enroll in the regional event.  Usually we do not have confirmation on team 2 until December - end of January, and team 3 usually is not notified until the very last deadline date in February passes.
 
PRACTICE: NOTE THAT THERE ARE NOW 2 DAYS OF PRACTICE EACH WEEK, NOT ONE.
NORMAL PRACTICE DAYS ARE NOW MONDAYS and TUESDAYS FROM 4:20 - 5:20 PM.
THIS IS AFTER THE TOURNAMENT DETERMINES THE TOP 3 TEAMS