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Scholars at Flat Rock take on the world

A team at Flat Rock Middle School competed with tens of thousands of students in the U.S. and several foreign countries in the Knowledge Master Open academic competition April 22. More than 2,000 middle school, junior high and high school teams faced their computers to answer 200 challenging questions in the event, earning points for the speed and accuracy of their answers.

The 13 students on the Flat Rock team scored 1,576 of 2,000 possible points to place in the top 2 percent in the world, fifth in Georgia and 22nd overall in a field of 852 middle schools in the contest. Among schools with 850 to 1000 students, Flat Rock was first in the state and 4th overall.

Academic coach Shery Kearney said she is proud of Flat Rock’s performance. "The team members showed great teamwork working together to reason on the answers to some of the word problems. We made a great showing for our first time competing in KMO. Half our team is made up of sixth-graders.”

Among the questions students had to answer were:

Which story is not about canines?  A) Jaws B) Sounder C) Old Yeller D) The Call of the Wild E) Where the Red Fern Grows

The First Continental Congress that convened in 1774 was comprised of colonial delegates selected by Committees of A) Cooperation B) Conspirators C) Correspondence D) Constitutionalists E) Counterrevolutionaries

You exert 2 pounds of force on one end of a lever, moving through a distance of 10 feet. The other end of the lever exerts a force of 10 pounds but it moves just 10 feet. How many foot-pounds of work were done?  A) 2 B) 5 C) 10 D) 20 E) 40.

Students on the Flat Rock team were Nadina Alvarado, Rachel Barnes, Diallo Berne, Chris Bracco, Blair Byrom, Ethan Dorner, Emma Kearney, Will Kearney, Karina Neumayer, Anisha Tajani, Robert Tobias, Mitchell Watson, and Linda Wilkins.

Designed to stimulate learning and recognition for academic achievement, the Knowledge Master Open runs on classroom computers to allow all students the opportunity to compete in a large academic event without the expense of traveling to a central site. The competition is presented twice each school year by Academic Hallmarks, a Colorado software publisher.