Students participating in community, continuation, and special education school programs used their knowledge about astronomy and space exploration, as well as quick thinking skills, while competing at the 4th Annual Sacramento County Academic Bowl.
William Daylor High School, a continuation high school in the Elk Grove Unified School District, took home the perpetual trophy by winning top honors. Students from Leo A. Palmiter Jr./Sr. High School and North Area Community School, both Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) programs, finished in second and third places respectively. Also competing this year were students from E.L. Hickey Jr./Sr. High School (SCOE), Gerber Jr./Sr. High School (SCOE) and American Legion High School (Sacramento City Unified School District).
North Area Community School student Norberto Velasquez received recognition for his award-winning design of the 2011-12 Academic Bowl t-shirt and program artwork.
The event was held December 14 inside the auditorium at Rosemont High School, in the Sacramento City Unified School District. The 2011-12 theme was Astronomy and Space Exploration.
During an awards luncheon catered by the Rosemont High School Culinary Program, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon told the participating students to take pride in their academic efforts.
"I hope that you see your participation in the Academic Bowl as just one more step toward becoming a successful person who can accomplish many things through hard work," Superintendent Gordon said. "I promise that you will look back on this day with a great sense of pride and accomplishment because you achieved so much by working hard and supporting one other."
Sacramento County Board of Education trustees Jacquelyn Levy, Eleanor L. Brown, Ed.D., and Greg Geeting presented awards and congratulated the participants.
The Sacramento County Academic Bowl is an academic competition held each year for students attending community and continuation schools. Teams of students compete in two academic events. The first event is a game show style "Super Quiz" competition in which students answer questions based on the theme. In the second event, students use a PowerPoint project to deliver a "live" presentation on a specific aspect of the theme.
Students spent time in class and after school to prepare for this demanding competition. In addition to mastering the academic content, which is based on California's content standards, students also learn about teamwork, computer and presentation skills, goal setting, and leadership.