Some folks may have to have a question repeated multiple times because they couldn’t hear it or didn’t understand it. Maybe the question they worked so hard to hear is incredibly mundane. Maybe it’s been a bad day.
At times, the last thing a person wants to do is answer a question, even though it can be simple or more difficult, such as recalling the state bird of Montana, the Western meadowlark.
For a group of LaGrange Academy students, however, answering questions correctly is in their veins – so much so that they got the chance to prove their mettle about 800 miles from home.
The middle school academic bowl team traveled to Illinois to participate in the Chicago phase of the Junior National Academic Championship for the first time.
“This is the first time the middle school has had a group fly to another state,” said coach Beth Tures. “It was a big deal.”
To get to that point, the LaGrange Academy team had to defeat teams from the Southeast at a regional competition in Montgomery, Ala., in February. The team then sacrificed multiple lunch hours and free time to practice for the championship.
The school funded the trip and flew the students to Chicago, pitting them against schools from across the nation.
“It was stiff competition,” Tures said. “It was our first time at any kind of event like this.”
The competition was stiff, but there was only a 20-point difference between the LaGrange team and the school that ousted it in the semifinals.
“The competition was good. We worked well together, and we really had the confidence that we could do well,” said student Jamie Zubernis. “And it turned out that we did do well. And to the shock of some of the parents, we placed third.”
LaGrange Academy defeated Trinity Junior High School of Fort Smith, Ark., in the quarterfinals by five points, then fell to Hawken School of Gates Mill, Ohio, the nation’s No. 3 team in 2009.
“You expect it to be all serious and competitive, and it is,” said student Evan Genova. “It’s really a fun experience. We were actually surprised because we did pretty well.”
Other members of the team were Kobe Largeman, Michael Cannady, Will Whitlow, Wesley Reames, Sammy McDonald and Lauren Feria.
“I am incredibly proud of those kids,” Tures said. “They worked so hard, and they just blew me away.”
Trey Wood can be reached at twood @ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 228.
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