THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606110162
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CARROLLTON LENGTH: 48 lines
Do you happen to know the name of the god of thunder in Norse mythology?
Or the Japanese name for a tidal wave?
If not, just asked the gifted third-, fourth- and fifth-graders who competed last week in the Academic Challenge at Carrollton Elementary School. Chances are they will remember the answers to these and other mind-stumping, short-answer questions asked during the competition.
More than 100 parents and other spectators were on hand to see the teams of youngsters from Carollton, Hardy and Windsor elementary schools face off in the college bowl-style competition.
The questions were ``factual recall that make students think on their feet,'' Carrollton Elementary gifted teacher Pam Saunders said. She and two other gifted teachers, Verna Jones from Hardy and Pat Payne from Windsor, wrote the questions.
Although students were given the chance to practice answering similar questions using a buzzer in the classroom, they were never given a study guide to prepare for the competition, Saunders said.
``Some of the questions were really hard,'' said 10-year-old Heather Johnson, a fourth-grader from Carrollton Elementary said. ``Some of them seemed like they were on the 7th grade level.''
Even though questions were hard and the student team that buzzed in first had just 15 seconds to answer the question correctly, students thrived on the thrill of competiton.
``You learn even when there is competition,'' Josh Fehd said. ``I like the competition because it's fun and makes you strive to be at your best so you can compete with all the different teams.''
By the way, Thor was the god of thunder, and the Japanese word for tidal wave is ``tsunami.''
Winners
Third Grade
1st place - Windsor Elementary
2nd place - Tie between Carrollton and Hardy elementary schools
Fourth Grade
1st place - Carrollton Elementary School
2nd place - Windsor Elementary School
3rd place - Hardy Elementary School
Fifth Grade
1st place - Hardy Elementary School
2nd place - Carrollton Elementary School
3rd place - Windsor Elementary School by CNB