Academic Challenge set to begin

SANDUSKY — North Point Educational Service Center will kick off this year's Academic Challenge on Tuesday. A first taste of academic competition is offered by North Point Educational Service Center each year. This year, thirty schools across four counties are again looking forward to sharpening their memory skills against their in-county rivals. Students in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade have been groomed in teams to come together for this challenging competition covering questions in mathematics, social studies — including questions on the American Revolution and World War II in their anniversary years — science, geography across time zones and U.S. regions and, just for fun, miscellaneous questions. The students were to have read Georgia Bragg's books, "How They Croaked" and "How They Choked," covering interesting facts about historic figures. The teams have a chance to answer a specific question just for them and to steal points if the responses are not correct. At the conclusion of each match, trophies are awarded to the top three finishers, and ribbons and certificates are given to all participants. The first-place winners in each contest are invited to a Champion of Champions round, which will be held on the Bowling Green State University Firelands College Campus in Huron on Dec. 9 for fifth and sixth grade teams, and on Dec. 10 for seventh and eighth grade teams. This year's schedule is:• Sandusky County: Oct. 21 for fifth and sixth grade and Oct. 22 for seventh and eighth grade at Clyde High School• Erie County: Oct. 28 for fifth and sixth grade and Oct. 29 for seventh and eighth grade at Sandusky Nazarene Community Church• Ottawa County: Nov. 5 for fifth and sixth grade and Nov. 6 for seventh and eighth grade at Oak Harbor High School• Huron County: Nov. 10 for fifth through eighth grade at Milestone Event Center in Norwalk Parents and friends are welcome to come to any of the contests. All competitions are scheduled to start at 9:30 unless a school is delayed for some reason.