ACT-SO, powered by NAACP

Where Brilliance Meets Boldness

ACT-SO
Lafayette

The NAACP’s Olympics of the mind and the arts, now competing in Acadiana. Founded in 1978, and now a stage of our own.

Spring 2027 University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Students & Parents Mentors, Judges & Sponsors

The Program

Train all year.
Compete on your own stage.

The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics is the NAACP’s yearlong achievement program for high school students — founded in 1978 on a simple conviction: that young people who excel in a laboratory or on a page deserve the same recognition we give athletes.

Students don’t just show up and perform. They spend the school year working with mentors, coaches, and working artists, building a piece or a project to competition standard. In the spring, they take the stage in Lafayette. Local gold medalists advance to the national ACT-SO competition, where national gold medalists earn scholarships.

Open to high school students in grades 9–12 who are U.S. citizens and amateurs in their category. There is a place here for you.

Compete In

Thirty-three categories.
Judged by professionals.

Stage

Dramatics · Oratory · Spoken Word · Vocal Music · Instrumental Music · Dance

Page

Original Essay · Written Poetry · Short Story · Playwriting · Music Composition

Studio

Filmmaking · Photography · Drawing · Painting · Sculpture

Lab

Architecture · Biology / Microbiology · Chemistry / Biochemistry · Artificial Intelligence & Computer Science · Earth and Space Sciences · Engineering · Mathematics · Medicine and Health · Physics

Market

Entrepreneurship

Kitchen

Culinary Arts · Hospitality Management

Vocal and instrumental music each compete in classical and contemporary; dance in ballet, contemporary, modern, and cultural. Thirty-three categories in all, and Lafayette is running every one of them. A student may enter up to three. Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management are the exception: a student in either one competes in nothing else.

The Path

From sign-up to the national stage.

01

Fall 2026

Register & pair with a mentor

Students sign up and are matched with a mentor or coach in their category. Families get a full orientation before any of the work begins.

02

Winter

Train through the school year

Workshops and coaching sessions run from late fall into spring: real craft, real feedback, and a piece or project built to compete.

03

Spring 2027

The Lafayette competition

Judged by degreed and working professionals in each category, on ACT-SO’s 100-point national standard. Gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded.

04

Summer 2027

Nationals

Local gold medalists represent Lafayette at the national ACT-SO competition. National gold medalists earn scholarships.

Student Sign-Up

Put your name in early.

Signing up here tells us your student is interested and puts your family first in line for orientation. It is not the NAACP’s official registration — that opens on the national portal this fall — but this form asks for the same things the national application does, so nothing has to be answered twice. It goes straight to the program team and nowhere else.

Fields marked * are required to sign up. The rest is what the national application asks for — filling it in now means your family does not answer it twice.

The student

Optional, on the national application and here.

Home address
Parent or guardian
School
A few things the national application asks

Membership is never required to compete.

Competition categories

Category names and numbers below are the NAACP's own. A student may enter up to three. Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management are the exception: a student in either one competes in nothing else. Lafayette runs all thirty-three.

Performing Arts

Visual Arts

Humanities

STEM

Business

Culinary

Still deciding

The national application asks music competitors to name the instrument or voice part for each competition entered.

From the NAACP’s national student application: “All NAACP ACT-SO Contestants must declare one unit to compete with during a single cycle. Students are not permitted to split their competitions across multiple units. Any contestant violating this policy will be disqualified and prevented from participating in the competition. To accept any cash prize winnings from ACT-SO, you will be required to complete and submit a W9 form for tax purposes.”

ACT-SO Contestant Statement of Integrity

The national application asks every student for this statement, signed by the student, a parent or guardian, and the ACT-SO Chairperson. Typing your full name below is your signature, and we enter it on the national application for you. The Chairperson signs there.

Great care must be taken to ensure that the highest ethical standards are maintained by those engaging in research and report writing. To reinforce the importance of these standards, all written entries for the NAACP ACT-SO Competition must submit this statement as part of the entry. The statement must be signed by the ACT-SO contestant, parent/guardian, and the ACT-SO Chairperson. One statement must be submitted for each written contestant entry.

We understand the following requirements are set forth by NAACP ACT-SO for all competition entries containing a written component. These requirements are additional to the general guidelines and requirements published by ACT-SO. By signing this statement, I certify that all statements are true and accurate as they relate to this entry.

  • The contents of this entry are the results of my solo work and not that of any group project.
  • I have never received an ACT-SO National Medal for any part of the written work submitted.
  • Credit for all secondary research has been given to the original author through the project's bibliography, footnotes, or endnotes, where applicable.
  • None of my work has been plagiarized from any source.
  • All activities or original research procedures described in this entry are accurate depictions of my efforts.
  • I understand that ACT-SO has the right to publish all or part of this entry. Should ACT-SO decide to publish the entire entry, I will receive a communication from ACT-SO informing me of my selection and procedures for participation.

This statement of integrity must be signed by the contestant, parent/guardian, and the ACT-SO Chairperson and submitted with the entry; otherwise, the entry will receive 10 penalty points. If it is found that any of the statements are untrue, the submitted work will be disqualified from the competition.

The student types their full name.

The parent or guardian types their full name.

Referral consent

Optional. Louisiana identifies Talented students in the arts by referral; this lets us make one on your child’s behalf.

Consent *

Mentors, Judges & Sponsors

This runs on people who know how to do.

Every category needs a panel of three judges — degreed or working professionals in the field. Every student needs a coach. And every line of this program, from workshops to medals to sending our gold medalists to nationals, can carry a name.

Fields marked * are required.

Consent *