North South Foundation
The North South Foundation (NSF) is a nonprofit organization whose main goal is to provide disadvantaged children living in India with college scholarships. The organization raises funds by holding educational competitions made up of participants of Indian background in the United States. NSF was founded in 1989.
Spelling Bee
The spelling bee has two divisions, junior and senior. Both divisions have the same rules. In the regional stages, there is a written round (25 questions for each contestant) and an oral round (6 questions for each contestant). The contestants in the oral round will have 30 seconds to spell their word. In the finals for 2010, there is a written round( 30 words per contestant), a oral round ( 3 words per contestant),and a final elimination round based on scores from the first two rounds, which is similar to the Scripps Spelling Bee. The winner is the last one standing.[1]
Math Bee
There are 3 divisions based on education level. In the regionals, all contestants get a question-paper with 25(as of 2010) questions which must be completed in 45 minutes. In the finals, it is the same, but in addition, 5 extra questions are added strictly as a tie breaker and also, there is a written lightning round with 20 questions where the contestants get 45 seconds to do each question.[2]
Vocabulary Bee
There are 2 divisions of vocabulary bee. The rounds are exactly the same as the spelling bee, but in the oral round, each contestant gets 8 questions, while in the national level each contestant gets 3.[3]
Geography Bee
There are two divisions of the geography bee. There is a written phase with 25 questions for which contestants get 25 minutes and an oral phase where contestants get 5 questions. At Nationals, there are 30 questions written and 3 oral questions. The top 10 cumulative scores are added to the Final Round. The Geography Bee at North South Foundation is alleged by some contestants to be substantially harder than the National Geographic Bee, and many Indian-American winners of the National Geographic Bee have been successful contestant of the North South Foundation Geography Bee.
Essay Writing Bee
In Essay Bee, there is a level 1, a level 2, and a level 3. In finals and regionals contestants get 10 minutes after the topic is announced to plan it. They then get 60 minutes to write the essay. Judges score them and then average the scores and announce the winners.
Public Speaking Bee
There are two levels, Level 1, and Level 2. Contestants get 30 minutes to plan, and up to 3.5 minutes to say their speech before points are deducted. Just like Essay Writing, judges give scores, then average them, and announce winners.[4]
Science Bee
The Science Bee contest was introduced in the year 2010 and is aimed at nurturing the interest and understanding of Science among children in grades 1 through 8. Science bee is split into 3 levels based on grade. The grade eligibility is determined as of February 1.
Finals
The winners of the above contests, and people who make a certain cutoff score in the regionals will go to the finals. It is conducted in a different place every year (with the exception of 2005 and 2006; both were at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in addition to 2003 and 2009; both were at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland), and it is always a university. In 2009, the finals was held at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2010, the finals was held in Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey. For 2011, the finals was held at San Jose State University, San Jose, California. The 2012 finals were held at the University of Michigan on August 18–19, 2012. In 2013, the National Finals were held at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 2014 finals were held in Dallas, Texas.
Past Locations
- Richardson, Texas - University of Texas at Dallas (2014)
- Durham, North Carolina - Duke University (2013)
- Ann Arbor, Michigan - University of Michigan (2012)
- San Jose, California - San Jose State University (2011)
- Glassboro, New Jersey - Rowan University (2010)
- College Park, Maryland - University of Maryland, College Park (2009)
- Cambridge, Massachusetts - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2008)
- Columbus, Ohio - Ohio State University (2007)
- Evanston, Illinois - Northwestern University (2005, 2006)
- Tempe, Arizona - Arizona State University (2004)
Scholarship Program
North South has an active scholarship program in India. All profits from the contests go to the scholarship program.[5] As of 2007, the foundation has awarded 2,000 scholarships to kids in India. They usually select poor students with high academic talent.