The NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) is a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students.
ACT-SO includes 32 competitions in STEM, humanities, business, and performing, visual and culinary arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated from the program since its inception.
For over forty years the mission of ACT-SO has been to prepare, recognize and reward youth of African descent who exemplify scholastic and artistic excellence.
ACT-SO Mission
The goals of ACT-SO are:
To mobilize the adult community for the promotion of academic and artistic excellence.
To recognize creative talent and academic achievement.
To provide and assist students with the necessary skills to establish goals and acquire the confidence and training to make a successful contribution to society.
STEM
CHEMISTRY/BIOCHEMISTRY
The science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of chemical processes and phenomena of substances and the transformation that they undergo.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
The science that deals with the theoretical aspects of computers including storage and the transformation of data using computers.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES
The body of sciences that include geology, mineralogy, physiography, oceanography, meteorology, climatology, astronomy, speleology, seismology, geography, etc.
ENGINEERING
Technology. Projects that directly apply scientific principles to manufacturing and practical uses.
MATHEMATICS
The science of numbers and their operations, interrelations, combinations, generalizations, and abstractions of spaced configurations and their structure. Development of formal logical systems or various numerical and algebraic computations and the application of these principles.
MEDICINE AND HEALTH
The study of diseases and health of humans and animals.
PHYSICS
Theories, principles and laws governing energy and the effect of energy on matter.
HUMANITIES
MUSIC COMPOSITION
The science or art of arranging music by ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination or in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.
ORIGINAL ESSAY
A brief examination of a subject in prose usually expressing a personal view or interpretation of a subject or topic.
PLAYWRITING
A literary composition developed for the stage.
POETRY–WRITTEN
An original poem or prose performed as a monologue or exchange involving extemporization.
SHORT STORY
A brief examination of a subject in prose usually expressing a personal view or interpretation of a subject or topic.
THE PERFORMING ARTS:
DANCE: BALLET
To perform a series of rhythmic and patterned bodily movements usually performed to music using grace and precision.
DANCE: CONTEMPORARY
To perform a series of rhythmic and patterned bodily movements usually performed to music.
DANCE: MODERN
To perform a series of rhythmic and patterned bodily movements usually performed to music that focuses on the dancer’s interpretations using their emotions and moods to develop choreography.
DANCE: TRADITIONAL
To perform a series of rhythmic and patterned bodily movements usually performed to music to reflect the life of the people of a certain region or country.
DRAMATICS
The art of staging or acting plays.
MUSIC INSTRUMENTAL–CLASSICAL
The art of performing with a device used to produce music with tones of the late 18th and 19th centuries characterized by an emphasis on balance, clarity, and moderation.
ACTSO1MUSIC INSTRUMENTAL–CONTEMPORARY
The art of performing with a device used to produce music with the tones of the present.
MUSIC VOCAL–CLASSICAL
The art of performing with the human voice rhythmic tones or sounds of the late 18th and 19th centuries characterized by an emphasis on balance, clarity, and moderation.
MUSIC VOCAL–CONTEMPORARY
The art of performing with the human voice rhythmic tones or sounds to produce music with the tones of the present.
ORATORY
The art of speaking in public eloquently and effectively. (This is not a dramatic presentation.)
POETRY–PERFORMANCE
An original poem or prose performed as a monologue or exchange involving extemporization.
THE VISUAL ARTS:
DRAWING
The art of representing forms and figures on a surface by means of lines.
FILM-MAKING
The art and process of making motion pictures.
PAINTING
The art of laying on paints with a brush or a knife.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The process, art and technique of taking images recorded by a camera and reproducing them on a photosensitive surface.
SCULPTURE
The art of making three-dimensional figures or designs.
BUSINESS:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Refers to owning, organizing, and managing your own business by providing a necessary product or service.
CULINARY:
ACTS CULINARY ARTS
The creative practice of cooking. One who engages in the culinary arts, or a culinarian, is either called a cook or a chef depending on their level of expertise.