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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Academic Olympic competition showcases problem-solving; bridges new friendships

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 25, 2008

Kristen Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Seventh-grader Alexandra Byrd quizzes fifth-grader Adam Boyd, sixth-grader David Stafford, and fifth-grader Josh Webber on Church catechism for the Academic Olympics.

Kristen Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Sixth-grader Ellen Kovalcik practices reading a poem about a homework machine to rehearse for her forensics competition for the Academic Olympics.

Richmond — Seven schools will come together at the end of the month not only to compete in math, religion, problem-solving and forensics, but to make friends and to have a good time, too.

Schools across the Blue Water Vicariate are gearing up for this year's Academic Olympics, which tests the minds of students in grades five through eight. It's a way for students to come together in friendly competition that's not centered on sports, explained principal Judith Karle, of the host school St. Augustine, Richmond.

"They really do get excited about it," Karle said of the students.

Other participants in the Academic Olympics, held every year before Catholic Schools Week, are Holy Cross, Marine City; St. Mary Academy and McCormick Academy, Port Huron; St. Edward on the Lake, Lakeport; St. Lawrence, Utica; Immaculate Conception, Anchorville; and St. Mary, St. Clair. Students from Cardinal Mooney High School, Marine City, help out as timekeepers for the events.

Months of practicing math problems, reading forensics presentations and memorizing Church history comes together for the morning of competition, which begins with a prayer service. The students are divided by event, by grade — most students participate in only one event, to allow more students to be involved — with about 400 students from all grades and schools competing.

Kristen Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Fifth-graders (from left) Kevin Baumgarten, Samantha Schaller, Christina Szydlowski, Carolyn Schweiger and Ryan Cass rig a contraption to lift a stuffed turtle from the floor to the desktop without touching it, as practice for the problem-solving division of Academic Olympics.

For forensics competitions, for example, students are judged on poise, how they interact with the audience, material selection and other points. Students can choose between serious poetry, humorous poetry, serious prose and humorous prose, and pick one ore more pieces to fit within the time restraints of three to six minutes.

Students enjoy both presenting their own pieces, and listening to others, the St. Augustine team agreed. "I like using action and expression," said Carissa Rumps, sixth grade.

For the religion competition, students draw teams instead of competing by school, which further mixes them up. The quiz questions are based on the Catechism and the lives of the saints, to which students buzz in with the correct answer. A question might be: God is the creator of all things, true or false?

Math competition incorporates answering computation problems at various stations, as well as working out as many word problems as possible during an allotted time. Questions could include subtraction, figuring out percentages, or determining the area of an irregular shape.

The problem-solving part of the competition is a bit more complicated, since the students don't really know what to expect. They have to complete some sort of task, with a few provided supplies, and are encouraged to work together and come up with creative solutions to solve the problem. In fact, completing the task is only part of the score — teamwork and aesthetics, for example, all count, too.

At practice a few weeks ago, students were figuring out how to get a stuffed turtle from the floor to the desktop without touching it, using straws, marshmallows and pieces of paper. Other challenges might be getting a ping-pong ball to stay in motion for as long as possible without touching it, or propelling a coin from one table top to another.

Kristen Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Eighth-grader John Gaffney helps sixth-grader Casey Malburg practice for the math portion of the Academic Olympics.

Michele Grifka, who teaches fifth- and sixth-grade language arts and religion, and coaches religion and problem-solving, said the students often bounce ideas off each other and help each other out during practices. "It also promotes team-building, and relying on each other," she said.

Once students get involved as a fifth- or sixth-grader, they want to be on for the rest of their school career, said Janet Savoyard, who teaches math, science and religion, and coaches math and religion. John Gaffney, eight grade, jumped in to say he was upset he missed Academic Olympics last year because his family was on vacation at the time of the competition.

"I think it's awesome," Savoyard said. "Kids really, really want to be on a team. It's nice because some kids who aren't sports-oriented get to shine."