High School

The High School Scholastic Games entered the semifinals of its 36^th Season of broadcasts on Tuesday, May 5^th as the academic team from Black River High School defeated Olmsted Falls.  The final score was 330 to 270, following extensive scoring by both teams.  Scholastic Games invites teams from all Lorain County schools each year.  Next week’s semifinal will feature Avon High School, and Elyria Catholic.  If Avon wins next week, this year’s championship will be between the same two schools as last year, but EC promises to be a worthy opponent.  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.”) 

      The winning team consisted of Stryker Charlton, Hunter Holly, and team captain Josh Adkins.  On the Olmsted Falls team were Alex Keller, team captain Abigail Bringman, and Joseph Brossard, who was designated winner of the program’s “Standout Scholar Award” which includes a cash prize on each weekly program.  It is a rarity for a member of the losing team to win it, but as its winner is defined as “the student who contributed the most to his or her team,” judges and scorekeepers follow their observations.  Olmsted Falls’ Bringman, the team captain, had won the Standout award on an earlier program. 

     In this week’s program’s “initial round,” all answers began with “R,” with answers ranging from Rembrandt to the Red Sea.  Black River took an early lead with a 40 to 30 score, and both teams added 30 points in the Current Events Round which followed.  Use of buzzers began in round three, giving an advantage for quicker answers.  With a theme of historic wars, Black River increased its lead, advancing to the fourth round with a score of 140 to 100.

      The fourth round has high scoring potential, and both teams scored significantly.  In the round, there are 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, as additional clues are required.  The first item yielded 40 points for Black River, as artist Salvador Dali was named after only two clues.  Another 50 went to Black River when the team identified John Brown’s Raid from the first clue.  Olmsted Falls bounced back with 40 points, naming Anne Boleyn, only ten from a more challenging set of clues about Harriet Beecher Stowe,  but ended the round with 50 points for identifying the sinking of the Lusitania.  Olmsted Falls actually won the round by ten points, but BR maintained a lead of 230 to 200.

     Both teams scored well in the final round of tossup and bonus questions, but Black River outscored their opponents by 30 points.  Both teams ended with quite respectable scores, but it was a solid win for Black River, advancing the team to a second consecutive slot in the annual academic championship.   The quiz series presents two academic teams each week, concluding with the county championship coming up 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.