These elementary kids already have college scholarship offers. Here’s how they did it.
Teams from Meadowthorpe and Sandersville elementary schools on Tuesday night won the Fayette County 2019 Superintendent’s Cup academic competition.
The students, along with individual winners in the on-demand math, science and writing assessments, received partial scholarship offers of varying amounts from colleges that sponsored the event.
“It’s inspiring that more than a thousand students from 22 of our elementary schools participated in the Academic Challenge,” Superintendent Manny Caulk said at the awards ceremony, according to a news release. “This amazing opportunity shows the importance of learning at high levels.”
In the finals, the top primary and intermediate teams from three regional contests competed at the district’s Central Office auditorium on questions in math, science, language arts, social studies, arts and humanities, and practical living, the district said. The team with the most points after the 18-question match was the champion.
Meadowthorpe took first place in the primary division for second and third grade. Team members Joseph Caudill, Alexandra Fender, Taylor Freed, Walter Johnstone, Glory Nsonguh, and Chloe Strader received scholarship offers from Morehead State University. A team from Rosa Parks was the runner up and a team from Harrison Elementary came in third.
In the intermediate division that includes grades four and five, a team from Sandersville took first place. Team members Nana-Ekua Baidoo, Andrew Grace, Xavier Jackson, Ben Marsh, Chandler Puckett, and Brennan Stansbury received scholarship offers from Eastern Kentucky University. The runner up was Tates Creek Elementary and Deep Springs took third place.
In addition to the team competitions, individual awards were given in math, science and writing.
Fifth-graders in the math and science category with scholarship offers from the University of Kentucky were winners Isabelle Dinh from Lansdowne, Sophia Collins from Northern and Abby Burton from Cassidy. Placing second were Angelia Stephens from Squires, Justice Cobb from Cardinal Valley and Andrew Grace from Sandersville.
Fourth-graders
The Academic Challenge program, organized by the Urban League and Fayette County Public Schools, aims to highlight the importance of education and help close achievement gaps through a competitive tournament. Students receive trophies, medals, and certificates for participating, and the sponsoring colleges award partial scholarship offers in the finals.
This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 12:09 PM.