JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Russellville and South Callaway academic teams faced off with buzzers in hand for the 20th annual Show-Me Conference Knowledge Bowl third-grade championship. The five-student teams had practiced for months leading up to the March 14 contest of scholarship and quick thinking.
"An anagram takes the letters of one word and reorders them to spell another word," moderator Mara Wilkerson, Tuscumbia, said. "For 10 points, which anagram of the word teardrop that begins with the letter P defines an organism that survives by praying upon other organisms?"
The room was silent for several seconds until an electronic buzzer sounded. "Predator," Russellville's Mandy Miller correctly answered.
Academic competitions like the Knowledge Bowl offer an opportunity for mindful students to join in competition without the physical aspects of athletic sports. The students learn team work, the value of practice and the confidence to speak their minds in front of an audience.
South Callaway came away with a 50-40 victory, topping third-grade elementary teams from Eugene, Russellville, Tuscumbia, Linn, Fatima, New Bloomfield, St. Elizabeth and Chamois. The schools each sent teams from third through sixth grade.
Whitney McCaulley, South Callaway's third-grade team coach, credits the team's daily morning practice regimen for its success. "We are so excited," she said with a big smile after the championship.
After all of the age groups' results were added up, Russellville came away with the Knowledge Bowl Cup. The Indians fifth-grade team won first place in their age group, the sixth and third grade teams earned second, and the fourth grade Russellville team came in third, for a combining score that topped teams from Eugene, Tuscumbia, Linn, Fatima, New Bloomfield, St. Elizabeth and Chamois.
The Knowledge Bowl, held on the campus of Lincoln University, is the only academic competition some of the elementary teams attend throughout the year. The contests pit teams of four students against each other to answer questions in school subjects like science, literature, geography, math and history.
Russellville organized this year's Knowledge Bowl. Team sponsor Laurie Koestner said the students work off each other's strengths and weaknesses to answer questions from a wide range of subjects, such as science, math, literature and social studies.
"They gain a lot of confidence and knowledge in areas they may not particularly focus on individually," Koestner said. "Someone may be very strong in math computation. Even though those students are strong in math, they also get some experience with literature that they may not normally."
New Bloomfield coach Ashlie Beck said academic competitions give dedicated students the opportunity to excel outside the classroom. "Participating in academic sports, it gives students who may not like athletic sports the opportunity to be challenged outside of the classroom. In the Knowledge Bowl, specifically, there are some students who need to be pushed a little bit higher to the next level."
Beck said academic competition exercises a muscle just like athletic sports, and exercising students' brain muscles could lead to success outside of school and into their careers.
California update
California High School particpates in the Scholar's Bowl, a MSHSAA-governed contest, for high school students. The Mustangs' season includes two to three regular meets a year before conference and district meets.
California earned second place in districts last year, but did not place in this year's conference competition. This year's district meet will be in April.
"Scholar's bowl is a really excellent way for students to compete as a team using their academic knowledge gained in high school," Mustangs coach Michael Baepler said. "There are questions involving history, fine arts, science, mathematics, geography, and current events. We have seen that students who are involved in band do well on fine arts questions and students involved in math team do well on math questions. The same is true for students in higher level science and history classes.
"This is really valuable because students active in these areas often do not get to see an immediate reward for pursuing these higher levels of education. Scholar's Bowl gives these students a chance to prove their knowledge, as well as to be challenged."
Jamestown update
Jamestown students Jarrett Gorman, William Lieser and Thaddius Branton earned positions in the CCAA All-Conference high school team.
Brienna Crider, Madelyn Rutledge, Raena Lieser made the CCAA All-Conference junior high team.
"Our academic teams gives students another opportunity to compete, but it also is a fun, challenging way to reward knowledge recall," coach Lou Ann Wolfe said. "It's also a good promoter of teamwork, because students bring to their team their own strengths and interests."