Students test their wits during National Academic League championship
Ryan King compets for South Davis Jr High at the National Academic League championship. In Farmington on February 27, 2015
Ryan King compete for South Davis Jr High at the National Academic League championship. In Farmington on February 27, 2015
South Davis Jr High team talks after the first round of the National Academic League championship. In Farmington on February 27, 2015
Trophy and medals laid out for the potential winners of the National Academic League championship. It was a showdown with Syracuse vs South Davis Jr High. At the Kendell Building in Farmington on February 27, 2015
Trophy and medals laid out for the potential winners of the National Academic League championship. It was a showdown with Syracuse vs South Davis Jr High. At the Kendell Building in Farmington on February 27, 2015
National Academic League commissioner Vernon Ruaz hosts the National Academic League championship. BothSyracuse and South Davis Jr High compete to win a trophy. At the Kendell Building in Farmington on February 27, 2015
Brenden Nuttall works on a question during the National Academic League Chapionships. In Farmington on February 27, 2015
FARMINGTON – There wasn’t a ball in sight. But this game, nonetheless, had fouls, time-outs, shot clocks, and substitutions while teams worked against the clock to accrue points.
In this test it was brainwork at play, during the National Academic League Championship game, Friday between Syracuse Junior High and South Davis Junior High.
Both teams entered the contest undefeated during this season, which began in January. The title, however, went to South Davis Junior High, who was crowned Davis School District champion and will compete in the national competition on Wednesday.
The NAL is an academic competition program first designed by former Secretary of Education Terrel Bell in 1992 when he was the Superintendent at Granite School District. Davis School District began participating in the competition in 1996.
“Bell modeled this on athletics because he wanted kids to experience the same kinds of pressures you feel in various games. I like that we are giving these kids something they can use now and later. Football skills have a limited duration, whereas problem-solving skills and working together as a group are skills you want kids to excel at. (We like students) to represent their schools with their brains,” Assistant Commissioner for the NAL program in Davis School District Vernon Kunz said.
The junior high students were certainly showing their expertise during the championship game. They answered questions about what Atticus did in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” to teach lessons about courage, they listed powers the U.S. Constitution gives to both federal and state government, and determined Thomas Jefferson’s age when the Declaration of Independence was signed and when he died.
The competition covered a broad range of topics from all four common core areas, which differentiates it from other competitions like the Science Olympiad or the state math contest.
The game consists of four quarters with different focuses. In the first round, players have 15 seconds to answer a question or a player from the other team can steal. During the second round, five players work together as a team on a multi-part question designed to be answered in 60 seconds. The third round involves a group of five to 10 players giving a presentation on a specific question given to them in advance and the fourth quarter has players buzzing in as fast as possible to answer a quick recall question.
Both teams began preparing for the NAL season shortly after school started last fall. For South Davis Junior High Mentor Desirae Calkins, seeing their team excel has been the highlight of the experience. “Our team has never come this far, so to see them go from not feeling like winners to working as a unified team and seeing their confidence grow has been really neat,” Calkins said.
Ninth-grade Brenden Nuttall said the hardest part of preparing for the competition was trying to remember specific facts that aren’t common, though studying with his friends made up for the challenge. “Hanging out with my friends with the same interests has been the best part because we help each other study the material and we are having fun at the same time,” Nuttall said.
Seventh-grader Ryan Zaugg from Syracuse Junior High has enjoyed being a part of his school’s NAL team.
“I don’t like sports because I think they’re boring, but I like knowing lots of random facts, so this is my gig,” Zaugg said.
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