Wednesday, December 3, 2003
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Wednesday, December 3, 2003 |
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Local students shine at Academic Contest Complex examinations, scholarly presentations, rapid-fire quiz bowls, and intense workshops — they may not sound like events that high school students would enjoy, but during Gordon College’s 2003 Academic Contest, teenagers from Sandy Creek and Starr’s Mill high schools had fun doing those exact things. Since the 1970s, Gordon has hosted this annual event. Its purpose is to expose students to a colligate atmosphere and give them an opportunity to demonstrate their academic skills in a competitive setting. “Our goal for the contest is to offer fair competitions that reward high school students for their academic excellences,” explained Gordon College Professor of English and Coordinator of the academic contest Dr. Anna Higgins. She has taken the lead role in creating the event for the past two years. Prior to that, she served as assistant coordinator for eight years. “Also, the contest seeks to promote an interest in academics at the college level,” Higgins said. While on campus, the students had an opportunity to test their knowledge in an array of disciplines. They took part in friendly, yet challenging, art; computer science; creative writing; health occupations; math; science; music; social sciences; Spanish; and theatre competitions. The group from Starr’s Mill placed third in Spanish. “We really enjoyed this year’s academic contest,” said Starr’s Mill faculty member Faith Davis. “As always, it was stimulating and lots of fun.” Educator Chris Flournoy of Sandy Creek noted that his students enjoyed showing off what they knew and finding out the areas in which their skills needed some improvement. During the contest, participants competed individually and as teams. At the end of the event, they enjoyed lunch, live music, games and an awards ceremony. “The academic contest simply amazes me,” said Higgins. “It brings out the best: students who are the brightest stars in our service area; visiting teachers who are the best in our school systems; and Gordon’s own faculty and staff, who graciously pull together in an unbelievable spirit of team work. The contest simply delights me more and more as the years go by.” In addition to the competitions, the students had the opportunity to meet Gordon College President Dr. Lawrence V. Weill, tour the college’s campus and receive an explanation of Gordon's admission process. This year’s Academic Contest brought some 400 high school students to Gordon College. The Sandy Creek competitors were Jonathan Foster, Brittney Huffington and Alyssa Larocca. Their sponsoring faculty member was Faith Davis. The Starr’s Mill competitors were Justin Huddleston, Jennifer Merrill and Mitchell Lentini. Their sponsoring faculty member was Chris Flournoy.
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