West Virginia Senate president, education officials launch Academic Showdown | News, Sports, Jobs


Senate President Craig Blair praises the start of the new Tutorial Showdown significant university quiz bowl opposition. (Photograph by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — A partnership amongst West Virginia’s lieutenant governor, community school leaders and increased education and learning officers hopes to reboot desire in higher faculty educational quiz bowl competitions.
Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, West Virginia Board of Education President Miller Hall, Point out Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch and Higher Schooling Policy Fee Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker introduced the start out of the new Academic Showdown for the duration of a push conference Wednesday at the point out Capitol.
The inaugural Academic Showdown kicks off Jan. 15 at Marshall University with 19 teams from 29 universities throughout West Virginia. Teams are created up of four pupils each, ranging from superior school freshmen to seniors, with an optional fifth member serving as an alternate.
Higher educational facilities started off making ready for the tournament in the drop with 25 much more teams predicted to compete for subsequent year’s Educational Showdown.
“This is thrilling previously,” Burch claimed. “What a location for our higher university learners to come jointly for these a levels of competition.”
The tournament was the brainchild of Blair, who pitched the strategy to Burch and Tucker very last yr. Blair desires to see learners who target on academics acquire as a lot aid and adulation as scholar-athletes, envisioning a match wherever cheerleaders and soccer workforce associates root for their quiz bowl teams.
“This is about our training, but this is about showcasing West Virginia. This is about dreaming significant,” Blair claimed. “We’ve received our most effective and brightest. We need to showcase them like we do pupil-athletes.”
Blair said the Academic Showdown can also provide as a showcase to the nation of the probable of potential superior college graduates to enterprise leaders thinking of relocating to West Virginia.
“Put this on all the Tv stations. If the CEOs are coming through or folks are browsing this condition and they’re watching it on Television set and observing our pupils remaining displayed, that sends a great information to corporate The united states.”
The Academic Showdown also will exhibit the state’s schools and universities with tournaments slated each individual Saturday as a result of February, such as Jan. 22 at Shepherd University at Shepherdstown, Jan. 29 at West Virginia College at Morgantown, Feb. 12 at Harmony University at Athens and Feb. 19 at West Virginia State University at Institute.
“We’re truly enthusiastic about this inaugural occasion and series of activities,” Tucker said. “Our inaugural host universities have prepared really outstanding regional occasions for our groups. I actually just can’t visualize a greater way to showcase our universities and colleges to the State of West Virginia and most importantly, our large college learners. We have remarkable gems in this state.”
The Educational Showdown’s championship competitiveness will take spot Friday, March 25, at the West Virginia Lifestyle Heart in Charleston. The West Virginia Office of Arts, Tradition and History is a sponsor of the Educational Showdown, with the championship remaining aired on West Virginia General public Broadcasting.
Hall, a former college principal, hopes schools and communities will rally close to their Educational Showdown quiz groups and inspire far more involvement in the coming decades.
“It’s like a workforce idea,” Corridor mentioned. “It’s trying to assistance one another to get exactly where they want to go. Some are in the athletic arena some are in the educational arena. But when they all appear with each other, they enjoy an critical position. The much better the community, the more robust the educational institutions. The much better the colleges, the more robust the local community. They’ll have ownership and acquire-in and they’ll sense superior about their schools.”
Steven Allen Adams can be arrived at at [email protected].











