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ATHENS – Concord University is among the colleges set to host a new academic competition in West Virginia this year, bringing together high school teams from across the state for regional match-ups.
West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, President of the State Board of Education Miller Hall, State Superintendent of Schools W. Clayton Burch, and West Virginia Chancellor of Higher Education Sarah Armstrong Tucker gave a press conference this week announced the new academic showdown at the State Capitol.
The West Virginia Academic Showdown is a head-to-head competition between West Virginia high school teams and a partnership between the West Virginia Department of Education, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and West Virginia Department of Art, Culture and History.
Sponsored by Senator Craig Blair, R-15th District, the program begins January 15th at Marshall University as the first of five regional games.
The Academic Showdown takes place on February 12th at Concord University in Mercer County. Participants will meet in the main auditorium of the Alexander Fine Arts Building.
The Academic Showdown Championship is held on March 25th at the West Virginia Culture Center in Charleston.
“It’s always important to celebrate the achievements of our fellows in a similar way that we celebrate the student athletes,†Blair said. “These young people are committed to academic excellence and eager for the intellectual sparring that the showdown offers. We are happy to offer the teams a platform to compete at this level. “
The competition questions include literature, math, history, science, geography, visual arts, religion / mythology, social science, philosophy, current events, pop culture, and general knowledge. Schools can form teams of four students from grades 9-12, with an optional fifth team member acting as a deputy. In the opening year, 29 teams from 19 schools take part.
“Our schools have once again demonstrated the resilience and commitment of our students, who enthusiastically accepted this opportunity,” said Burch. “You’ve worked tirelessly over the past semester to prepare for the Regionals and we know this will be an exceptional opening season. Many schools that have not been able to organize teams this season are planning to participate next year. “
Universities will host the Regionals to bring the state’s best academics and family members to campus for them to explore more closely what college offers and student life.
“We are very excited that higher education has had the opportunity to be part of this unprecedented new program, and I know that each of our first host universities plan to host exceptional regional events for the teams,” said Tucker. “I can’t think of a better way to showcase our colleges and universities to academic excellence from across the state. This is a shining example of how K-12 and higher education continue to work together to help students reach their full potential. “
The West Virginia Academic Showdown uses official National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) questions for all regional and championship games. As the competitions are held one after the other, questions can be repeated at multiple locations, so recordings are not permitted during the events. For further information, click here.
The competition rules will be published on the WVDE website and details of each region will be given in media releases prior to local events.
– Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
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