Latest news with #NationalAcademicQuizTournaments
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Poll: Who should be The Oklahoman's Student of the Week for April 14-17?
The Oklahoman's Student of the Week poll for the week of April 14 is now live. The nominations for The Oklahoman's Student of the Week contest are in and polls are open to vote for the best of the best starting now. The Oklahoman asked superintendents, principals, teachers, and guidance counselors from across the Oklahoma City area to participate in the Student of the Week program by sending nominations for their student. Readers will now pick the best of the best in our poll. This week's poll has two candidates. The Oklahoman's Student of the Week poll is at the bottom of the list of nominees. You can vote once per hour until it closes. Last week's winner: Braxton Cyrus is The Oklahoman's Student of the Week. Voting is open through noon, Thursday, April 17. Nominations for next week's poll are also being accepted through 5 p.m. Thursday. To nominate a student, school faculty can email StudentOfTheWeek@ Here are the nominees for this week's poll: Sreekar Vajjha, Classen School of Advanced Studies High School at Northeast: Vajjha, is an honor student that pushes himself to be the best he can be in everything he takes on. His dedication and focus to academic excellence placed him 6th in the nation at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Individual Nationals in Chicago. He qualified through his outstanding performance in academic team competitions. "We are incredibly proud of Sreekar and the dedication he's shown. His sponsor, Ms. Termini, is especially proud and so are we," said Principal Misti Pope. Katelyn (KT) Lewis, Newcastle High School: Lewis, a senior, has had a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, ranks #9 and achieved an impressive 32 on the ACT. Along with her regular course work, she is currently taking college courses. Beyond her academics, she is a talented musician, she has proudly served as the first chair percussionist in the band for the last two years. In addition to her musical accomplishments, she is a dedicated member of the varsity track team where she excelled in 2024 as the state runner-up in pole vault and earned state medals in both the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles. Her leadership qualities shone brightly when she was crowned homecoming queen, Fall 2024. "She exemplifies the spirit of excellence and determination," said science teacher Kevin Jones. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Poll: Here are the nominations for The Oklahoman's Student of the Week
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Burges HS student to compete in national Quiz Bowl tournament in Chicago
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — An El Paso high-school student will represent the Sun City in a national competiton for High Q or Quiz Bowl. Brian Moore, a senior from Burges High School, will compete in the 2025 NAQT (National Academic Quiz Tournaments) Individual Player National Championship Tournament (IPNCT) on April 6 in Chicago. The tournament pits high-school students from across the country against each other in a buzzer-based game that tests student's knowledge in an array of topics. The topics can include history, art, zoology, and everything in between. 'How quiz bowl works is that it's basically like super fast trivia. It's fast paced. If you know an answer, you have to buzz in. If you don't do it, then the other team or the other player has a chance to get it right. So it's about being fast and also being comprehensive,' Moore said. The game tests student's reflexes. A quiz host will pose a question, and the student who presses the buzzer first is given the first opportunity to respond with the correct answer. They also get bonus points if they press down on the buzzer before the host is finished asking the question and respond correctly. Quiz Bowl is usually a team game but this tournament tests players individually. Moore said he will compete with a field of about 250 quiz bowl players from around the country. For more information about the format of the tournament, you can go to the NATQ's website. Moore has been a part of the Burges Quiz Bowl team since his junior year. He's said he's acquired plenty of experience in the competitions by participating in several High Q competitions against other high schools in El Paso. 'At first, I was not the best player in the world. It was really hard because the rapid fire nature of the game is very tricky. But I do know a lot of facts about events like history and geography. And I wanted to put that to the test,' Moore said. But he also said that the tournament in Chicago will be the first time he competes individually and without his teammates. He said, however, that he's confident he will be prepared because his coach Mrs. Urcelay, and his teammates have helped him refine his skills as a Quiz Bowl player. 'In the competition, I try to tune out what's in the background, pinpoint what I call laser hearing. I call it laser hearing because I look out for key words when they're ringing off questions,' Moore said. 'It's more or less just being cognizant, paying attention, and waiting for that moment to buzz in when you know the answer. Even if you buzz in and it's wrong, there's a saying, 'It's always better to buzz in and be wrong, than to not do it even though you knew the answer.'' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
North Schuylkill High School wins Academic Competition
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — North Schuylkill High School scholars swept the 33rd Annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition Monday morning at Penn State-Schuylkill campus. The highest scorer in the preliminary rounds of questioning, North Schuylkill outpaced the teams from Pine Grove High School and Blue Mountain High School to win the championship. The final scores were North Schuylkill, 95; Pine Grove, 75 and Blue Mountain, 70. * The North Schuylkill team claimed first place during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * North Schuylkill student Fabrizio Manganiello kneels to receive a gold medal from coach Joseph Wyatt during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Show Caption 1 of 2 The North Schuylkill team claimed first place during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Expand Pine Grove, last year's champion, finished first in league competition among 13 public, parochial and charter schools that preceded the competition. As champion, North Schuylkill will represent the county in the Pennsylvania Academic State Competition on May 2 in Harrisburg. 'Wow,' coach Joseph P. Wyatt said after North Schuylkill's win. 'Our school has not been in a state competition in 19 years.' 'Our team was well rounded,' said Wyatt, who's taught history at North Schuylkill for 24 years. 'Our students backed up one another.' The team — Fabrizio Manganiello, Christopher Dambrosia, Joseph Campbell and Garrett Ratkiewicz — had been together for a long time, Wyatt said. 'And the fact that they were all friends contributed greatly to their success,' said Wyatt, who coached the team with Justin Sharp. Coached by Gerald Salen, Pine Grove's final four contestants were Catherine Primeau, Jackson Ludwig, Shane Hall and Dustin Williams. Blue Mountain was represented by Bill Mills, Connor Barry, Megan Bassinisky and Liam Dreher. Steve Zimmerman coached the team. From left, North Schuylkill, Pine Grove and Blue Mountain compete in the finals during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 sponsored the competition that drew 10 public schools, Nativity and Marian Catholic and Gillingham Charter School. The top nine scoring schools competed in the semi-finals. In order of finish, they are: North Schuylkill, Pine Grove, Blue Mountain, Nativity, Pottsville, Tamaqua, Marian, Tri-Valley and Minersville. Paired off in threes, the semi-finalists competed in simultaneous competitions to decide the three finalists. Annie Milewski, IU-29 director of curriculum and instruction, said the questions were compiled by National Academic Quiz Tournaments, an organization that prepares questions for high school and college academic competitions. Questions ran the gamut of science, technology, history, literature and entertainment. Panelists in one of the semi-final rounds were unaware the Meriam Webster's 2024 word of the year was 'polarization.' Another troublesome question was 'What insect do scientists want to put on the threatened species list? A: the monarch butterfly. Wires lead to the students' buzzers during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) One of the stumpers in the finals between North Schuylkill, Pine Grove and Blue Mountain highlighted a generation gap — What 1950s sitcom featured a boy nicknamed for a rodent? A: Leave It To Beaver.' The finalists aced the final Fanfare round of six questions, each worth five points. They knew that Pres. Trump had renamed the Gulf of Mexico, that Pres. Gerald Ford pardoned Pres. Richard Nixon, that the Richter scale measures magnitude of earthquakes and that the Minions first appeared in 'Despicable Me.' Educators who read the questions were: Chuck Grabusky, Sammantha Nelson, Sean James, Ed Andrescavage and Barb Wilkinson. IU-29 staffers Theresa Kozura and Michelle Stone assisted in organizing the event. * Nativity students discuss a question during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * Shenandoah Valley students react to a difficult question during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * Pottsville students finalize an answer during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * A student holds up a buzzer ready to press it as a question is read aloud during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * Pine Grove student Catherine Primeau writes down an answer during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * North Schuylkill students reveal their answer during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) * Students discuss their answers to a question during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Show Caption 1 of 7 Nativity students discuss a question during the annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition at Penn State Schuylkill, Monday, March 10, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Expand
