Albany team places 2nd in state contest
By Donnie A. Lucas
One of the Albany teams competing at the state championship for the Small Schools Academic Challenge took second place and earned a total of $3,250 in scholarship money.
Three Albany teams qualified to compete at the state meet held at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton last Sunday.
The team of Sarah Cotter, Jaylynn Roberts, and Wyatt Beard scored 37 points for second place.
Also competing from Albany were the team of Ryan Mark, Caitlyn Lee, and Clay Green, and the team of Brooks Neece, Kam Browning, and Koy Cauble. Neither of those teams placed in the top five out of the 26 teams competing the in the Class 1A through 3A division.
“Each team includes one Level 1 student with an A average in core subjects, one Level 2 with a B average and one Level 3 that has a C average,” sponsor Jenny Scott said.
This is the first year that Albany students have competed in the program that is sponsored by the Texas Association of Community Schools.
The competitors participated in the area level meet held in Albany on Feb. 10 to qualify.
“The teams were different at area,” Scott said. “We took the highest scoring students from the area meet on our top team, which is the team that won second at state.”
Albany was the only area school to participate in the area meet, although others were invited, according to Scott.
“We will reach out to the surrounding schools again next year,” she said. “It is a good way to get kids to perform on an academic level and earn scholarship money.”
The second place trio will split the $3,250 in scholarship money, to be paid out when students provide enrollment schedules prior to their freshman year in a college or trade school.
Albany ISD provided the $500 entry fee per team for the area meet, which was awarded back to the top team of Ryan Mark, Caitlyn Lee, and Clay Green.
Teams were reshuffled for the state meet based on their scores at the area meet.
“We thank the Academic Booster Club for helping with the entry fee, which was again $500 per team, at the state meet,” Scott said. “We are hoping to host a local contest next prior to the area meet that the student body can watch in order to generate more involvement.”
Superintendent Jonathan Scott and high school principal Glen Hill also attended the contest and served as proctors.
