Hardyston wins Academic Bowl

HARDYSTON — In what may be considered as the 32nd Annual Sussex County Middle School Academic Bowl, the two teams representing Hardyston Township took first and second.
The event, held Friday, June 2, at Hardyston Township Middle School in Hardyston, New Jersey saw eleven teams of seventh- and eighth-graders come together to compete for the perpetual trophy. The Hardyston Middle School team A was first, with team B second. The team representing Newton was third and team B from Sparta was fourth.
Steeped in tradition, the Sussex County Middle School Academic Bowl is an excellent example of the county’s continuing commitment to education. Sussex County had a broad representation of teams who participated in this year’s event: Sparta Middle School, from Vernon, the Glen Meadow Middle School, Newton Halsted School, Hamburg, Hopatcong, Sussex Charter School and Hardyston Township. The schools from Glen Meadow, Vernon, Sussex Charter, and Hardyston each had two teams in the challenge.
Each year, the Academic Bowl tests our county’s sharpest middle school students' reflexes, teamwork skills and sheer knowledge in a fun and competitive atmosphere, which followed a television game show format, using questions and buzz-in devices. Each round drew from questions on subjects that ranged from general history to mathematics, science, literature and language arts, and the performing arts. This year, retired educators volunteered to read the questions for each round, sharing their expertise and adding an appreciated level of formality to the match rounds. The full day of competition was exciting for all who participated.
The first place Hardyston team consisted of Nadine Boukhari, Jacob Conklin, Veronica Conklin, Emily McCallum, and Katrina Veal. The second place team, Hardyston Middle School Team B included Gian Accardi, Dominic Chiochhi, Caroline Kula, Nick Paddock, and Claudia Pignataro. Mrs. Patricia Rosendale coached both teams, along with the support of Mr. Robert Rosendale. The third-place team from Newton Halsted School included Dan Baer, Katelyn McDade, Ryan Penny, Austin Sawler, Morgyn Witt and coached by Ms. Jenn Reynolds. The fourth place team, Sparta B included Timothy Lee, Liam Rust, Akshat Iyer, Kiran Duggirala, Lucas Rendina and coached by Mr. Jason Kopp. Throughout the day and evening, students from Hardyston’s eighth grade class manned the buzzer and timer equipment, acted as score keepers, and helped to manage the event.
Beginning just before 9 a.m., the teams met in head-to-head in match round challenges, 11 rounds in all. In addition, each team also had the opportunity of a collaborative round in which all team members could discuss and respond to the questions. Many of the match rounds were hotly contested with students buzzing in quickly and responding to the questions, leading to a number of very close scores.
The top scores achieved during the day determined the final rounds held Friday evening. The final four met for a consolation round for third and fourth, followed by the final round, both rounds were held in the cafetorium in front of the other teams, families, and friends in the audience. The evening’s matches were moderated by Lieutenant Colonel William Pohlmann, ret. a resident of Sussex County. The air was charged with nervous energy and anticipation as questions were traded off between the two teams. The round was not determined until the final questions; one question separated the teams, with Hardyston Team A taking the lead in the scoring.
The first place team took home the perpetual silver bowl trophy, along with both a team trophy and individual trophies and medals for each team member. The second place team received a team trophy, individual trophies and medals for the members for their accomplishment. The third and fourth place teams each received a team trophy and medals indicating their placements All students who attended the challenge throughout the day and evening challenges received certificates of participation.
"The Hardyston Township School District is always proud to be able to host county-wide events such as this one. Whenever we can promote an academic or intellectual spirit among our students and those in our neighboring districts it has to be considered a plus," said Mr. Robert Demeter, Vice-Principal for the Hardyston Middle School. “We had a great response and all the participating schools seemed to feel it was a great day and said they planned to come again next year. We are looking forward to seeing even more teams participate next year. I enjoyed watching the competition especially when seventh and eighth grade students were answering questions that left me stumped."