Maine College Knowledge Bowl
Lagrange Elementary and Sebasticook Valley Middle School Show They Have the Answers for the Future
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, elementary and middle school students from 14 teams throughout Maine competed in the first Maine College Knowledge Bowl in Newport. Four students from Lagrange Elementary School beat teams from central, southern, and eastern Maine to the buzzer as they answered a wide range of questions testing their knowledge of college, college majors, and colleges worldwide. The team from Sebasticook Valley Middle School was equally successful at answering a majority of over 280 questions.
The goal of the Maine College Knowledge Bowl is to help students develop their knowledge of the opportunities of higher education and hopefully create some community conversation around it. "We can't ask students to aspire to what they don't know. Information is step one. Creating some excitement for the opportunities is step two. Today, US students will accomplish as much in their education as they want to." said Bob Stuart, the Director of Maine College Circle, the Yarmouth-based nonprofit that organizes the competition and promotes the opportunity of higher education to K - 12 students statewide.
"It says a lot that the students from Lagrange Elementary, in one of the most economically challenged communities in the state, spent the time, with parent and teacher help, to learn the answers to these questions. The interest and aspirations are there, if we will help them grow." said Stuart. "All of the teams were really amazing. They knew more answers than I did, and I made up the questions!"
The winning teams receive $1000 awards to be spent to build aspirations for higher education at their elementary and middle school and in their community. But it comes with one condition, the winning teams must engage their school board in a discussion of how to spend the money to boost aspirations. It must be a community decision, but the students come to the table with the money.
"The great part of the day was the number of parents there to watch," said BJ Bowden, guidance counselor at Lagrange Elementary. "Parent support is what I have been working on for three years. Most of these students will be first generation college students. They are already asking if they can be on this fall's team. They are already planning to meet with their school board. They are already planning to visit the University of Maine campus in Orono. I love when kids are motivated. The Maine College Knowledge Bowl was proof of what they can accomplish."
The next Maine College Knowledge Bowl will be held in the fall of 2010. More information can be found at www.mainecollegecircle.org.
A few of the over 280 questions students answered at last week's Maine College Knowledge Bowl include:
What is the name of a popular Washington state college to study video game design?
What is the closest vet school to Maine?
What is the product of a culinary arts major?
What college did John Cena attend?
What New York university did Senator Susan Collins attend?
In what city will you find UCLA?
What is the name of Maine's 529 college savings program?
In what town will you find Washington County Community College?
Name a Bangor college with a strong automotive technology program.
What is the first Maine college in the alphabet?
What is the home state of Purdue University?
What is the name for a college major in the study of diseases?
What college did Barack Obama attend in 13th grade?
Saturday March 20, 2010 is the date for the first Maine College Knowledge Bowl for elementary and middle school students. It is sponsored by Maine College Circle in partnership with the Youth Aspirations Project, and hosted by Sebasticook Valley Middle School in Newport.
Twelve elementary schools will compete in the morning in three or four rounds of questions about college and colleges and college majors and more. Twelve middle schools will compete in the afternoon. The purpose of this event is to promote the opportunity of higher education for younger Maine students, to encourage early knowledge and information, to build more and early conversation about college opportunities, and to celebrate some aspiring Maine students.
Questions will come from crossword puzzles Maine College Circle sends to the school and their four student representatives to the event, plus from posters on college majors and colleges Maine students often consider. We encourage schools to ask each student in their school to research one college on the poster and/or one major, so that it will be a school effort to prepare their representatives for the event. We hope that this process and the event itself will be a fun challenge for everyone involved and will excite students about their educational opportunities ahead.
Many of the questions will come from information Maine College Circle and the Youth Aspirations Project have already shared in workshops. School counselors and teachers, Maine College Circle, and the Youth Aspirations Project will help participating schools prepare for the event.
Crossword puzzles will be distributed to participating schools on February 1, February 8, March 1, and March 15.
We have an initial round of invitations out to a small number of schools and already have a great collection of participating schools from throughout Maine. There is room for other interested elementary and middle schools. We hope to see the Maine College Knowledge Bowl expand in the future with events each winter and fall.
There is no cost to register. The winning team in each division (elementary and middle) will receive a $1000 award to be spent at the discretion of the team members and their school administration to promote the opportunity of higher education at their school. Second prize will be $500. Third prize will be $250.
If your Maine elementary or middle school is interested in competing, contact Bob Stuart at Maine College Circle, bstuart@mainecollegecircle.org or Kitty Mitchell at Sebasticook Valley Middle School, kmitchell@rsu19.org.
DO YOU KNOW? . . .
It is the college of pro wrestler John Cena.
The degree most commonly earned after two years in college.
The university of Governor Baldacci.
A college major very useful for communicating in Madrid.
Tom Brady’s university.
A top college for video game design in Redmond, Washington.
The northernmost college in Maine.
Mascot of the University of Florida.
City of Bates College.
First Maine college in the alphabet.
The O in UMO.
College major studying diseases.
College major beginning with E and studying bugs.
A word used to describe the cost of courses at college.
A small Maine college with strong environmental science and forestry programs in a town with the same name.
The hometown of Washington County Community College
The first college of President Obama (in California).
College major in the study of weather.
The product of a culinary arts major.
The university of Senator Susan Collins.
The state of business schools Babson and Bentley.