February 12, 2022
ATHENS, W.VA. – Teams from Greenbrier East High School and PikeView High School took first and second place honors (respectively) at today’s West Virginia Academic Showdown competition hosted by Concord University. These teams have qualified for the statewide championship in Charleston on March 25. Two teams from Greenbrier East and one team from PikeView participated in today’s competition.
“This has been an exciting experience for me and my team,” said Jason Ream of Greenbrier East High School. “I really want to thank our coaches for preparing us for the competition.”
“It’s great to represent my school and county,” said Samuel Chambers of PikeView High School. “We look forward to going to states.”
Championed by West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, the Academic Showdown is a new academic competition for West Virginia high school students that brings teams together from across the state for regional matchups on college campuses. The initiative represents a partnership among the West Virginia Department of Education, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Competition questions cover literature, math, history, science, geography, fine arts, religion/mythology, social science, philosophy, current events, pop culture and general knowledge. The West Virginia Academic Showdown utilizes official National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) questions for all regional and championship matches.
The first competition was held at Marshall University on Jan. 15 with teams from Tug Valley High School and Ripley High School advancing. The second competition was held at Shepherd University with teams from Berkeley Springs High School and Spring Mills High School advancing. The final regional competition will be held at West Virginia State University on Feb. 19.
The advancing teams from each region will face-off at the West Virginia Culture Center on March 25 during the Academic Showdown championship, which will be live streamed by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
For competition highlights and details, visit https://wvde.us/academic-showdown-highlights/.
Contact: Christy Day, West Virginia Department of Education Office of Communications, 304-558-2699 (o), 681-319-5206 (m) or Christy.Day@k12.wv.us; or Jessica Tice, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, 304-545-9412 or Jessica.Tice@wvhepc.edu
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