Firelands Challenge is back

SANDUSKY — Firelands Challenge will return next week for its 45th season. For a chance to win prize money and scholarships, 18 teams from 18 local school districts are set to compete in this year's Firelands Challenge program. Firelands Challenge is an academic competition for local high schools organized by North Point Educational Service Center. The students compete to answer questions from numerous academic subjects. The teams' first matches and the rest of the regular season matches will be hosted next week at EHOVE Career Center. Competitors can expect a similar format to prior years: • There will be six rounds of matches • The top two teams, based on their cumulative scores, will advance to the championship rounds. • The third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams will compete in the playoff round where the winner will join the other two top teams in the championship rounds. Last season concluded with a noteworthy finish, featuring two of its top teams: Edison High School and St. Mary Central Catholic High School tied at the end of the championship rounds. Edison earned its 13th consecutive win while St. Mary chalked up its first championship. Norwalk High School came in third place against St. Mary and Edison in last year's championship. This was the second championship in a row that these three teams competed in the final matches. First-round opponents Here's a look at the opening week's schedule: Monday • 9:45 a.m. — South Central, Huron and Margaretta • 10:45 a.m. — Bellevue, Edison and Sandusky • 11:45 a.m. — Norwalk, Willard and New London Tuesday • 9:45 a.m. — Perkins, St. Mary Central Catholic and St. Paul • 10:45 a.m. — Lakota, Port Clinton and Western Reserve • 11:45 a.m. — Danbury, Monroeville and Oak Harbor Several local businesses, civic organizations and patrons support the Firelands Challenge program. Croghan Colonial Bank is sponsoring the championship rounds' prize money, and BGSU Firelands is offering three scholarships for students from the top three finishing teams. Other sponsorships include Buckeye Broadband, Norwalk Wastewater Equipment Co. and R & D Equipment of Norwalk.