Academic teams to compete at state
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany High held an area competition for the Small Schools Academic Challenge last Thursday, advancing three teams to the state meet.
Albany’s three teams took first through third place, moving on to the state meet on Feb. 27 at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton.
This is the first time that Albany has participated in the program sponsored by the Texas Association of Community Schools.
The three members of Albany’s first place team each won a $500 scholarship, according to sponsor Jenny Scott. Members of the winning team were Ryan Mark, Caitlan Lee, and Clay Green.
The second place team included Brooks Neece, Kam Browning, and Koy Cauble, while the third place team members were Luke Ivy, Avery Kleiner, and Wyatt Beard.
Alternates at the local meet were Sarah Cotter, Jaylynn Roberts, Ty Everitt, and Bryce Asher.
The three advancing teams will compete with the top qualifying teams from the other nine areas in the state. The winning teams will receive scholarships as well at the state level.
Scholarships will be funded once students submit proof of enrollment to a university, community college, technical or trade school.
Scott said that Albany took the lead in establishing the program for this area, inviting a number of surrounding schools to participate. The challenge is limited to members of TACS which is open to smaller schools in Class 1A through 3A districts.
The challenge was supervised by Gene Sheets, a retired superintendent who is now a representative with TACS.
Students were presented a bank of 20 questions representing the fields of math, science, language arts, and social studies.
“The students were given study guides in order to prepare,” Scott said. “We hope that next year we can share the information about the program to surround small schools and get them involved.”
Scott said that the amount of scholarship money available is determined by the number of schools participating and payment of a $500 registration fee.
“Mr. Sheets said he was impressed with the number of correct answers our students had, especially considering this was their first year to participate,” Scott said.
