News…

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Monongalia County’s Suncrest Middle School won the 3rd annual West Virginia State History Bowl on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, out performing 15 regional team winners with their knowledge of state history, culture and heritage at the Culture Center in Charleston.

Horace Mann Middle School in Kanawha County won second place followed by Team One from Shady Spring Middle School in Raleigh County. Team One from Cameron High School in Marshall County earned fourth-place honors.

“I am so delighted that the students from Suncrest are the State History Bowl champions,” said state Delegate Charlene Marshall, D-Monongalia. ”Suncrest is an outstanding school and the students there excel in many areas so it is nice to see them win an award for their knowledge of state history.”

The double-elimination tournament sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History included lightning rounds and team rounds featuring questions about state and county history, culture, heritage and tourism prepared by the staff of the Division’s Archives and History Section.

Each member of the championship team, comprised of eighth-graders Roark Sizemore, Sadaf Sarwari, Matteo Peries and Tee Tanner, won $500 each.

Second-place winners received $250 each, third-place winners $125, and fourth-place winners $50. The Division also awarded prizes for the tourney MVP and all-tournament team.

Matteo was named the tournament’s MVP. Members of the all-tournament team included Sadaf, Isaac Liu from Horace Mann, Lucas Thompson from Shady Spring, and Sara Quigley from Cameron.

Members of the Horace Mann team were Isaac, Mary-Keeton Lane, Harriett Rowe and Zane Lewis.

Shady Spring’s team included Lucas, Jenna Meador, Trevor Pritchett and Jordan Thomas. Cameron’s team members were Sara, Adrianna Boles, Roger McDiffitt and Jared Neehouse.

Regional competitions held in February and March involved more than 100 four-member teams from 40 counties. Other champion and runner-up teams who advanced to the state competition included Chapmanville Middle School in Logan County, Edison Middle School in Wood County, Fairview Middle School in Marion County, Frankfort Middle School in Mineral County, Jackson Middle School in Wood County, Moorefield Middle School in Hardy County, Nuttall Middle School in Fayette County, Sissonville Middle School in Kanawha County, Summersville Middle School in Nicholas County, and Williamson Middle School in Mingo County.

To prepare for the competition students are encouraged to study more than 1,800 questions available on the Division’s website, including daily trivia questions, quick quizzes and a Golden Horseshoe study guide.

For more information about the West Virginia History Bowl visit http://www.wvculture.org/history/historybowl.html or contact Bryan Ward, tournament director and assistant director of West Virginia Archives and History, at bryan.e.ward@wv.gov or (304) 558-0230.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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