SPHS, GHS academic teams headed to state finals

Saturday, April 23, 2011
Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE Members of the Greencastle High School English team bound for the state finals in the Academic Super Bowl competition May 7 at Purdue University are (from left) senior Lauren Kenney, coach Nicole Kempf, junior Alice Moore and freshman Hannah Gellman.

Four Putnam County high school teams have earned a trip to the state finals of the 2011 Indiana Academic Super Bowl competition May 7 at Purdue University.

South Putnam High School will send three teams and Greencastle High School one to the finals of the 24 annual statewide competition.

South Putnam's three-team contingent is the most in school history and ties SPHS with Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter for the most finalist teams in this year's Class 3 competition (larger schools Penn, in Class 1, and West Lafayette. In Class 2, are sending four teams to the finals this year).

The English, Fine Arts and Interdisciplinary teams will represent South Putnam, while the Greencastle English team will also vie for the state championship in Class 3.

South Putnam's Interdisciplinary team posted the overall top score in Class 3 during regional competition with 18 correct answers out of 25 questions.

"I am so pleased our academic teams are advancing to the state level," Kieth Puckett, SPHS principal, praised. "Advancement gives us all a chance to give these three teams the recognition they deserve.

"Our coaching staff, led by coordinator Tona Gardner, has obviously done a great job," Puckett added. "The students on these teams in particular, and our upperclassmen in general, are the leaders of our school, and we are very proud of them all. We wish them luck at state."

Gardner also expressed pride in the South Putnam team. A year ago, the Eagles were represented in the state finals by the English team.

Contributed photo South Putnam High School academic team members on the three teams headed to state competition May 7 are (back, from left) Sam Schlatter, Nicole Hurst, Sam Gould, Rachel Jervis and (front, from left) Emma Young, Kandra Johnson, Jessica Maginity and Chelsea Modglin. The English team is coached by Tona Gardner, while fine arts is coached by Kurt Scott. Interdisciplinary does not have a specific coach, but is the result of the combined effort of all of the SPHS academic coaches.

"The academic competition is a unique opportunity for our students to go beyond curriculum and explore additional challenging material," she said.

"In the 11 years that I have been working with academic teams, I have been honored to lead many intelligent, creative and dedicated students at South Putnam and I am proud of all of their successes," she added. "This year's accomplishment of qualifying three teams for state reflects our current students' determination. They are resourceful, intelligent, considerate students who respect and encourage each other. I am honored to work with them and look forward to the May competition."

Gardner also coaches the SPHS English team, while Kurt Scott coaches the Fine Arts group. Interdisciplinary is a joint effort of all the coaches.

South Putnam team members advancing to the state finals are Sam Schlatter, Nicole Hurst, Sam Gould, Rachel Jervis, Emma Young, Kandra Johnson, Jessica Maginity and Chelsea Modglin.

The Greencastle English team is coached by veteran instructor Nicole Kempf, who has had GHS teams in the finals previously. Team members are senior Lauren Kenney, junior Alice Moore and freshman Hannah Gellman.

Kathryn Dory is the overall Academic Super Bowl coordinator for Greencastle, which has a history of sending teams to the state finals dating back to the first year in 1987. GHS has had at least 12 state titles overall, including four times in which the Tiger Cubs captured two titles the same year (1991, 1993, 1994 and 1998).

The Academic Super Bowl is a statewide competition focusing on English, math, social studies, science and fine arts. In addition to the five subject areas, a sixth round of competition is called interdisciplinary and includes questions from each subject area. Each round consists of 25 questions.

Greencastle High School was again the site for 18 schools from across the region: Terre Haute South, Terre Haute North, West Vigo, South Vermillion, North Vermillion, Shakamak, Northview, North Putnam, South Putnam, Cloverdale, Greencastle, Avon, Plainfield, Brownsburg, Danville, Owen Valley, Riverton Parke and Rockville.

Cloverdale, Greencastle, North Putnam and South Putnam all competed in Class 3 along with South Vermillion. County winners were: English (E) -- 1st Greencastle, 2nd South Putnam; Science (Sci) -- 2nd Greencastle, 3rd North Putnam; Fine Arts (FA) -- 1st South Putnam, 3rd Greencastle; Social Studies (SS) -- 1st Greencastle, 2nd Cloverdale, 3rd South Putnam; Math (M) -- 2nd Greencastle, 3rd North Putnam; Interdisciplinary (ID) -- 1st South Putnam, 3rd Greencastle.

During the Math competition, teams needed a score of 19 locally to advance to state. Greencastle posted a 17, followed by NPHS at 15 and SPHS and Cloverdale, both with 11.

In the tough regional Social Studies competition, a score of nine was necessary to advance. Greencastle and Cloverdale each had eight, while SPHS posted a six.

In Fine Arts, South Putnam grabbed the seventh and final state qualifying slot with a score of 16. Greencastle had 13, Cloverdale 11 and NPHS 10.

Science teams needed 16 points to advance. GHS had the top local score with 13, followed by North at 12, South at 10 and Cloverdale with eight.

In English, 17 points were necessary to advance, and both Greencastle and SPHS hit that number (Union had 19 to win the regional). Cloverdale posted an 11.

Lastly, in Interdisciplinary, South Putnam got 18 right answers to win locally. A score of 15 was necessary to advance to state. GHS had 11, Cloverdale eight and NPHS six.

Cloverdale team members were: Kelli Anderson, E, FA, ID; Samantha Devellen, SS; Kyle Everhart, M, SS ID; Heather Hall, M; Kyle Manion, FA, M, ID; David Mundy, E; Travis Roberson, Sci, SS; Kylie Shaw, E, ID; and Ethan Williamson, FA, ID.

Greencastle team members were: Avery Robinson, M; Erik Norlin, M; Dakota Watson, M, SS, ID; J.T. Hennette, M, ID; Mackenzie Meyer, Sci; Joey Kass, Sci, ID; Cy Spencer, Sci, SS; Clark Wilson, Sci, ID; Alice Moore, E, Sci, ID; Tess Handy, FA, SS, ID; Alex Asbell, FA; Reba Chapple, FA, ID; Karina Serapio, FA; Faith Liveoak, SS; Lauren Kenney, E, ID; and Hannah Gellman, E.

North Putnam team members were: Rachel Campbell, FA; Kyle Cunningham, FA, Sci, ID; Stephen Freund, Sci, ID; Jared James, M, Sci, ID; Michael Keene, M; Eli Klein, FA; Amanda Millican, M; and Megan Robinson, M.

South Putnam team members were: Jessica Maginity, E, SS, ID; Chelsea Modglin, E; Rachel Jervis, E, FA, ID; Sam Gould, M, Sci, ID; Sam Schlatter, M, ID; Jake Gould, M ID; Kyle Chaney, M, Sci; Adam Zigler, Sci; Jessica York Sci; Sarah Cheatham, Sci; Nicole Hurst, FA, SS, ID; Patrick Allen, SS; Morgan Dezi, SS; Emma Young, FA; and Kandra Johnson, FA, ID.

Comments
View 4 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Congratulations to all!

    A lot of great things happening in the local schools...Students & educators together are excelling every day in our community.

    Another example...Area 30 students recently competed & took 1st place at state academic competitions. These students now advance to national competitions later this Summer.

    The future looks brighter than ever for our local youth...

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Sat, Apr 23, 2011, at 5:55 AM
  • Love seeing when our youth do good things. GO Eagles!

    -- Posted by busymom48 on Sat, Apr 23, 2011, at 8:18 AM
  • GREAT job and congratulations to the kids, their parents, and the schools. Good things continue to happen in our schools, all of them!

    -- Posted by cvilleguy on Sat, Apr 23, 2011, at 9:14 AM
  • Great job South! Mr. Schlatter just wait until Mrs. Smith's fourth grade class see you in the paper. They miss you. Great job team!

    -- Posted by Hairy Tiger on Sat, Apr 23, 2011, at 7:54 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: