Guest ECBucFan Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 High schoolers show smarts in academic competitions By: SARAH MOORE , The Enterprise BEAUMONT - These are kids with all the answers. Well, quite a few of the answers, anyway.A team of Bridge City High School students emerged victorious in the Lamar University Texana Challenge after a battle Saturday with East Chambers High School students.The two teams were finalists out of a series of academic contests held throughout the day between Southeast Texas schools.The four first place winners, Mark Placette, Nick Robertson, Madison Davis and Brett Bertles said bragging rights should be good for at least a week at school about their victory over much larger schools."I'm personally proud of everyone here - this was a team effort," Placette said after the competition.The two were nearly neck and neck for the first couple of rounds, when East Chambers stumbled on a series of thorny math questions in a set of bonus questions.Bridge City pulled away on their category: grammar.Assisted by his team, Placette rattled off the answers: proper noun, pronoun, antecedent, conjunction, adjective, adverb, gerund, passive and active and passive. He missed only missing one, involving "subjunctive mood."History buff Madison Davis correctly answered questions about the names of the six wives of Henry VIII and a question about Queen Victoria's succession to the throne.Nick Robertson was the team's math whiz.The Bridge City team's toughest round was in the semi-finals against West Brook High School.West Brook had a strong lead when a series of questions about fairy tales turned the tables for Bridge City."I never knew I could make money off of fairy tales," Placette joked.West Brook's chance to make a comeback foundered in a set of questions involving the completion of common sayings like: "Discretion is the better part of...(valor);" "An ounce of prevention is worth... (a pound of cure)" and "He who hesitates... (is lost)."The top four place winners were granted Lamar University scholarships.Each of the Bridge City winners will get $2,000 in scholarship money.The East Chambers contestants got $1,500. West Brook won $1,000 and West Orange-Cove High School students, in fourth place, won $750.The contest resembled the television quiz show "Jeopardy" in some ways, with trivia questions about popular culture, history and literature.Plentiful and difficult math, grammar, spelling, and science questions set it apart from the popular TV show.Regardless of their placement, competitors said they had a good time."I love trivia and all that stuff," West Brook senior Phillip Vincent said.He conceded that it was nerve wracking at first "but once they start asking questions you settle in and get a rhythm."The event has been organized for the past 13 years by director Mimi Hollier and Lamar professor Dale Priest."We have a lot of fun and I wouldn't do it without him - and I think he feels the same way," Hollier said."Sure I do," Priest responded. "She's the queen bee and I'm her helper."Hollier noted it was a chance for scholastic students to get a little limelight."Athletes get all the attention and these are the folks that are going to be running the world!" she said as she introduced the semi-final rounds.
Guest ECBucFan Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 The moderators noted how two of the smallest schools went head-to-head with, and then won out over the larger schools. Great job, Bucs (and Cards)!
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