High School

      The High School Scholastic Games continued the playoffs of its 36^th Season of broadcasts on Tuesday, April 28^th  as the academic team from Black River High School defeated Avon Lake in the program’s fourth quarterfinal.  The final score was 380 to 170, a solid victory leading to the team’s scheduled return the following week for semifinal number one, which could well be a greater challenge. Scholastic Games invites teams from all Lorain County schools each year.  The other semifinalist teams include Olmsted Falls, Avon High School, and Elyria Catholic.   The broadcast airs every Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. on station WDLW in Lorain (FM 98.9, AM 1380 and wdlwradio.com), when the station temporarily sets its rock and roll format aside for “Community Night.”  The programs are available as podcasts after the radio program airs (located with a search for “Scholastic Games.”)  Semifinals and the program’s annual county championship will be broadcast in the next three weeks.  

     The winning team consisted of  Stryker Charlton, Hunter Holly, and team captain Josh Adkins, who was awarded with the program’s “Standout Scholar Award” which includes a cash prize on each weekly program for the student contributing the most to his or her team.  Avon Lake was represented by Nathan Mellinger, Jacob Mars, and team captain Andrew Cline, who won the Standout award on an  earlier program. 

     In this week’s program’s “initial round,” all answers began with “C,” with answers ranging from the element calcium to composer Aaron Copland.  Black River took an early lead with a 40 to 30 score, but Avon Lake tied it up at 80 to 80 after the Current Events Round.  Use of buzzers began in round three, giving an advantage for quicker answers.  That was a theme round on wonders of the world, with Black River taking the lead again with a 150 to 110 score.

     The fourth is often crucial to the competition’s outcome, with clues of decreasing difficulty for each answer, beginning with a 50 point scoring potential, followed by clues to score 40, 30, 20 or 10 points.  Clues about Sheridan’s Ride in the Civil War and Torquemade, the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, stumped both teams.  Knowledge of baseball immortal Jackie Robinson earned Black River 20 points, and a clue about Charlies Dickens earned ten for Avon Lake.  The one big score of the round was was 50 points to Black River from a clue about South Sudan, the newest country in the world.

    The point advantage going into the final round was only increased in the fast tossup and bonus round yielding a strong victory to Black River.  Next week’s program will be the second consecutive week in which Black River will compete, as the program advances from the last quarterfinal to the first semifinal.  The team will face Olmsted Falls High School, one of the schools that has produced five championship winners in past years.

   The quiz show presents two academic teams each week, concluding with the county championship to be broadcast on May 19^th.  Jim Mehrling has been host and producer of Scholastic Games since its start. He credits Nordson Corporation Foundation, the Community Foundation of Lorain County and Nord Family Foundation for their sustained support, as well as the Elyria Public Library System, which has hosted competitions and sponsored the radio broadcasts for over a decade.  Nine area colleges and universities participate in the show’s Tuition Credit Award Program, which designates a $1000 credit to one of the institutions to each participating high school.  The institutions include Oberlin College, Lorain County Community College, Ashland, Heidelberg, John Carroll and Tiffin Universities, Ursuline College and Lake Erie College.

    All programs are recorded in advance at the main branch of the Elyria Public Library, 2^nd St. at East Avenue in downtown Elyria on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the final sessions, open to the public, this weekend.  Their remaining broadcasts, 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, include: