Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, March 05, 2009

Lives will change this weekend at the annual Superintendent’s Cup Academic Challenge, where hundreds of kids will compete for the chance to secure a college scholarship before they even enter middle school.

“The excitement does really ratchet up with the Superintendent’s Cup. This is the third competition, and all the students are much more experienced,” said Alice Nelson, family and community liaison for Fayette County Public Schools. “The prize of scholarships added to the trophies, ribbons and medals increases the intensity.”

Students on the first-place intermediate and primary teams and winners of the on-demand contests will receive college scholarships. In addition, there will be a scholarship drawing for other participants who stay for the afternoon awards ceremony.

This year’s generous supporters, providing 34 scholarships altogether, include the University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Morehead State University, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Georgetown College and Murray State University. All these partners want to encourage kids to focus on their studies now and in the future.

The Academic Challenge program fosters a culture that encourages all children to embrace academic excellence, provides opportunities for rigorous scholastic contests, and involves parents in their kids’ education. The series consists of three events: the Invitational, the Principals’ Cup and the Superintendent’s Cup. These contests, open to kids in grades 1-5, are organized by FCPS and One Community, One Voice.

“The rigor of the competition has really increased, and the quality has increased steadily because achievement has increased steadily. We’re really encouraged by the impact the Academic Challenge has had on overall academic achievement in the district,” said OCOV chairman Arnold Gaither, noting that the growing program is in its fifth year.

“We’re so thrilled with the number of volunteers that have agreed to be coaches, in particular the student coaches from the University of Kentucky,” he added. “They’re having a unique experience working with the young students.”

Regardless of who comes out on top, the work all the kids do is valued and important, Nelson said, adding, “The teams that are winning are winning by small margins because all our teams are competitive.”

In addition to team contests, the on-demand writing component is open to fourth- and fifth-graders who have participated in the Academic Challenge series; fifth-graders also can enter the math/science open-response contest. The top-scoring student from each school advances to the districtwide competition. There, FCPS content specialists judge the entries, and the top students win scholarships.

“We added more opportunities for students to receive scholarships because we have so many universities interested in supporting academics,” Nelson said. “So not only have they participated all year long on the academic teams, they also can now win a scholarship through individual competition.”

How the team competition works:

On March 7 at Tates Creek High School, teams of four-to-six kids will fan out through the building for Round 1 of the Superintendent’s Cup. Three teams will square off to test their knowledge of core content material. A moderator reads a question, and the children have 45 seconds to confer and write their team’s answer on a white board. Each round includes 20 questions, and the winning team advances to the next round.

At about 2:30 p.m., FCPS Superintendent Stu Silberman, One Community One Voice Chairman Arnold Gaither, Board of Education members, and representatives from the community will hand out awards to the top teams in each division and to the essay and math/science winners. In addition, all the children will receive certificates recognizing their hard work and commitment to excellence.

Media contacts:

• Alice Nelson with Fayette County Public Schools, (859) 381-4307
• Karolyn Kell with One Community, One Voice, (859) 272-1184