


What is ACT-SO
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 33 competitions in STEM, Humanities, Business, and Performing, Visual and Culinary Arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated in 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.




Medals & Prizes
Competition is open to all Charlotte-Mecklenburg High School students.
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Students are competing for medals, cash prizes and the opportunity to advance to the National NAACP ACT-SO Competition.
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BusinessClick on the category title to view the requirements. Entrepreneurship Refers to owning, organizing, and managing your own business by providing a necessary product or service.
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Culinary ArtsClick on the category title to view the requirements. 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.
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HumanitiesClick on the category title to view the requirements. 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 A composition, marked by language chosen for its sound, beauty and evocative power. Short Story
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Preforming ArtsClick on the category title to view the requirements. Dance: Ballet To perform a series of rhythmic and highly technical patterned bodily movements usually performed to music using grace and precision. Dance: Contemporary To perform a series of rhythmic and technical 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. Dramatic Arts: Acting 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. Music: 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 effective written, and oral presentation to persuade or inform. (This is not a dramatic presentation.) Poetry—Performance An original poem or prose, written by the contestant, performed as a monologue or exchange involving extemporization.
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StemClick on the category title to view the requirements. Architecture Plans for and models of structures and outdoor spaces. Biology/Microbiology The science of life or of the origin, structure, reproduction, growth and development of living organisms collectively. 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, physiographic, oceanography, meteorology, climatology, astronomy, speleology, seismology, geography, etc. Engineering 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 con gurations 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.
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Visual ArtsClick on the category title to view the requirements. Drawing The art of representing forms and figures on a surface by means of lines executed by hand or computer (digital) generated processes. Filmmaking The art and process of making motion pictures. Painting Art created by applying pigment on a two-dimensional surface with a brush, knife, or hand and/or the manipulation of digital processes with a computer. Photography The process, art and technique of capturing images with an analog or digital camera. Sculpture The art of making three-dimensional forms or designs.