Caption:  Members of The Paideia School’s academic bowl team accept their first-place trophy.  Team members include: (l-r) Reese Harward, Sophie Lyman, Coach Wilson York, Amit Kamma, Sean Zheng, Miles Kirsh and Rohan Leveille (not pictured, Coach Kelly Clampett).

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The Paideia School won top honors at this year’s PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades State Championship competition. The team won the title at the PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) event on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, at the Georgia College & State University (GC&SU) Arts and Sciences Auditorium in Milledgeville, GA. The Paideia School is an independent school located in DeKalb County.

During the morning session of the event, 24 semi-finalist teams from across the state competed in a round-robin competition. Eight teams emerged as finalists from that round of competition, and those teams competed against each other in the afternoon single-elimination competition session, with The Paideia School’s academic bowl team claiming top honors. The team members are Miles Kirsh, Reese Harward, Sophie Lyman, Amit Kamma, Sean Zheng and Rohan Leveille. The team is coached by Wilson York and Kelly Clampett.

All eight teams competing in the final rounds earned medals and awards. Other award-winning teams include: Second Place: Forsyth County Schools’ South Forsyth Middle School, coached by Ashley Calloway and Liz Rushton; Third Place: Fulton County Schools’ River Trail Middle School, coached by Sarah Roberson and Scott Fowler; Fourth Place: Gwinnett County Public Schools’ North Gwinnett Middle School, coached by Scott Johnson; Fifth Place: DeKalb County School District’s Chamblee Middle School, coached by John Donegan and Cathy Hirsch; Sixth Place: The Columbia County School District’s Stallings Island Middle School, coached by Deborah Hundt; Seventh Place: Cobb County School District’s Lost Mountain Middle School, coached by Jennifer Dawson and Lauren Newell; and Eighth Place: Muscogee County School District’s Blackmon Road Middle School, coached by Alicia Allen and Stacy Jenkins.

“I always marvel at the intelligence and poise under pressure that Academic Bowl participants display throughout the competition,” said Dr. Ann Stucke, PAGE Foundation president. “It’s apparent that it takes months of study, training and hard work by each student in order to participate in the state championship. Our congratulations to the participants, their coaches, parents and school administrators, all of whom contributed to the success of each team. We would also like to thank GC&SU and the Collegiate Middle Level Association (CMLA) for hosting our competition at this outstanding university,” Stucke added.

The PAGE Academic Bowl features teams of middle school students fielding questions on subjects ranging from Georgia history to mathematics, science, literature and the performing arts. Opposing teams compete against the clock to answer toss-up and bonus questions in order to score points. The goal of the program is to inspire students to excel academically, to enhance student self-confidence and self-esteem through high achievement and develop both a team and competitive spirit. Statewide, more than 1,200 students competed at the local, regional and state levels of the PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades. This year’s competition was sponsored by PAGE, with Georgia College’s Collegiate Middle Level Association serving as host.

The Professional Association of Georgia Educators honors outstanding students and educators and encourages academic excellence through competitive academic initiatives such as PAGE STAR, the PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades and the PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon.