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ACADEMIC TEAM

Columbus East Fine Arts Team - 2022 State Runner-Up
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Columbus East Fine Arts Team - 2022 State Runner-Up
 
 
The Columbus East Academic Teams are the most successful competitive teams in the history of Columbus East, having won 14 state championships since 2000 in the Indiana Academic Super Bowl program. Each year the competition has a different focus of study (2022 was Canada: Our Neighbor to the North and 2023 will be The Age of Exploration: 1400-1650). Weekly practice sessions begin each fall with competitions taking place the following spring.

There are 5 subject area teams:
English - Mr. Greg Lewis - coach
Fine Arts - Mr. Greg Lewis - coach
Math - Mr. Elgin Kupferer - coach
Science - Mrs. Anne Owens - coach
Social Studies - Mr. Tyler Schmidt - coach

and an Interdisciplinary Team made up of members from each of the 5 subject area teams.

See any of the individual coaches above for more information or to join (for English and Fine Arts, email Mr. Lewis at lewisg19@gmail.com).
 
 
Student benefits from participation in AcademicTeam include:
  1. Better comprehension of concepts covered in regular classes
  2. Improve reading and problem-solving skills
  3. Use material learned in future research paper assignments
  4. Challenge oneself academically
  5. Opportunity to compete and succeed outside of more recognized areas (sports, performing arts)
  6. Build good friendships with peers and good memories from high school competitions
  7. Fun!

 

What are Indiana Academic Competitions?
Indiana Academic Competitions, (which was known in the past as IACE or Indiana Academic Competitions for Excellence) is a part of the Indiana Association of School Principals, Department of Student Programs. It is a unique inter-scholastic academic competition program which allows Indiana's senior high, junior/middle, and elementary school students an opportunity to compete in academics similar to the way they compete in athletics.

Objectives
Academic competitions encourage academic achievement by offering the participants recognition and reward. By honoring intellectual achievement, academic competition celebrates scholarship. The objectives of academic competitions are to...

  • showcase Indiana's able scholars
  • involve their families in the thrill of academic excellence, and
  • provide a rewarding experience for the participant's intellectual performance

Outcomes
Academic competition has the potential to produce the following outcomes:

  • place academic achievement in a position of prestige
  • provide students with an incentive for academic excellence
  • raise academic expectations in Indiana's schools
  • promote a positive image of Indiana's youth, and
  • encourage a more favorable attitude toward schools

Eligibility
Any student enrolled full-time in grades 9-12 is eligible to compete on a high school team. Any full-time student in grades 7 and 8 is eligible to compete on a junior division team. Sixth grade students may participate if they are housed in the same building with the 7th and 8th graders as a middle school. Ninth graders housed in a middle school must either compete with the team from the high school which they will attend or they may compose a team of their own and compete in the high school division. Within these constraints, schools may select their teams in any manner and with any additional criteria they choose.

East's Academic Team
East's Academic Team competes in the Senior Division Indiana Academic Super Bowl each year.  East has teams in five subjects--English, Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Fine Arts and a sixth interdisciplinary team.  At the competitions, a team (3 to 5 students) attempts to answer 25 multiple choice questions in their subject area.  Each question is projected onto a large screen and the question is read.  The team members then have 20 seconds (sometimes 40 seconds in math and science) to choose an answer.

There is a general call out every school year around the start of the 2nd nine weeks for anyone who is interested in participating on one or more of the teams.  Each team then practices about once a week through March and April when we have our actual competitions.  The competitions are held in the evening at host schools.  There are two invitational meets followed by a district (state qualifying) meet.  The teams in each subject area that have the highest scores at the district competition then compete in the state championship meet.  At the competitions, only 3 to 5 members of each team actually compete, but other members of the teams who come to all the practice sessions learn a lot in each subject.  Students who qualify may earn an academic team letter. 

Columbus East Academic Teams - A Tradition of Success