Pre-College Initiative Competitions
NSBE offers a variety of technical and academic excellence based competition for our pre-college students. Technical excellence competitions include our Pre-College Initiative Science, a showcase competition that engages students in use and understanding of the scientific method, and the Engineering Design Competition, a team-based competition that encourages innovation, inquiry-based research and teamwork in the design of a specific project model for testing during competition. Our signature academic excellence program and competition is Try-Math-A-Lon, commonly known as “TMAL”. This team-based program focuses on mentoring preparation for teams in their study and understanding of the content administered through the SAT standardized exam. The programs highlight event is the TMAL Quiz Bowl, which is offered for teams that completed regionally, as well as those competing solely at the annual national competiton.
All NSBE Jr. Competitions have a regional competition component that takes place during the Fall Regional Conferences and a national-level competition that culminates at our annual convention each March.
Kid Zone Conference is a conference specifically targeted toward students in grades 3 through 8. It is designed to help prepare them for academic challenges in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. It is hoped that through this program the students will gain an interest in these subjects that allows them to excel academically in their current grade level, and pave the way for future successes in secondary and post-secondary education. The activities are designed to enhance the critical thinking skills of the students and to engage them in the scientific process.
In an effort to include a middle school component/competition to the Fall Regional Conferences and National Convention, we have partnered with MATHCOUNTS , the Nation’s premier middle school mathematics enrichment program, to launch this fall the NSBE MATHCOUNTS Competition. Teams of four students will participate in a competition that is divided into three sections that include Sprint, Target, and Team Rounds. Regional winners will advance to compete at the annual convention. To register CLICK HERE.
The PCI Science Fair is a competition where students get an opportunity to research, in detail, a topic chosen by and interesting to them. Through science fair projects, students will discover how science relates to every part of their lives. The specific goals of NSBE’s Science Fair are to introduce students to the scientific method, engage students in problem solving through a variety of approaches, sharpen student writing skills, allow students to use research resources, develop student presentation skills, and recognize the skills and abilities of our scholars.
The purpose of the Team Engineering Design Competitions (Middle and High School) is to expose pre-college students to a hands-on, team oriented, collaborative activity that involves mathematics, physics, mechanical engineering, software engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and industrial engineering. Upon completion of the design project, teams will exhibit their designs at the Fall Regional Conferences held in each of the six NSBE regions and National Convention .
Try-Math-A-Lon is a tutoring program meant to foster good study habits for at-risk Black students, help prepare for standardized test exams such as the ACT and SAT, promote competition and good sportsmanship. The TMAL competition is held between teams composed of high school students in grades 9-12. The purpose of the competition is to help groom TMAL team members for success in STEM courses and prepare them for standardized SAT/ACT testing.