My high school hosts Academic Challenge, a regional version of High-Q that is, in all honesty, my entire life. It boasts some of the smartest kids my school has to offer, including my best friend Jessa. So far, we've placed either SECOND or THIRD in the GWOC league. This is a personal record for our team. We've been doing extremely well this season. But?

Not a peep. Our local paper has never once even mentioned us. It's a big-shot gazette, kinda like the New York Times for our small town. Everybody takes it seriously. It constantly chronicles the performance of every single sport our school has to offer, from basketball to football to track and field to bowling and golf. Bowling and golf! But Academic Challenge? Nope. I don't think they even know we exist.

Most of the kids in my school have never even heard of Academic Challenge. The ones that have couldn't care less. That's why we only have 9 members.

On a whim, I leafed through the online version of our local rag. Look at these articles in the paper:

W**** recruit thinking of ditching Michigan?

Area schools rank high on boys state basketball poll

Recruiting heat just starting for W**** QB

Local boy is newest golf powerhouse

W**** football players debate on issue of nuclear energy

Okay, the last one is an exaggeration. But still, do you get my drift? Here's the only result I got for the term "Academic Challenge":

7 area football players make Academic All-Ohio team

>_< Is it any wonder no one has faith in the local school system? It's not just the paper, though. The school website has several pages dedicated to the basketball team alone. What does it have for Academic Challenge?
Today, February 16
WHS Academic Challenge-postponed

Our number-one opponent has a whole WEB PAGE dedicated to their team, with profiles for each member, a run-down of every match, and even links to helpful study-sites.

And don't even get me started on attendance! An average basketball game fills the gym (so I've heard; I've never actually been to one), with people standing. So, I'd guess at least 300 people a game. That's including visitors. Academic Challenge? One of our varsity members's parents came to our matches, but apparently they can't even make it any more. That's zero people rooting for our school. Not that the other schools have a large section, mind you. But still, I think our support is pathetic. My own mother once told me that she wouldn't be caught dead at one of our matches, but that's probably because she looks a lot like me and would instantly recognized as my mother, and nobody wants to be the mother of the weird girl who wears a mini-tie with a polo shirt.

So? I don't know if all schools sweep their academic competitors under the rug like this (obviously they don't), but I think ours is unbelievably unsupportive of of us. No wonder there's such a social stigma to being smart. Or, as my little sister put it (no lie), "I don't like doing smart people stuff 'cuz smart people ain't cool."

Thoughts?

Tags: Academic, Challenge

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Comment by twister7boy on February 22, 2010 at 3:21am: heck at my old school you had to have a b+ average grade level to play sports.
peace. gregg

Comment by Reagar on February 18, 2010 at 7:00pm: Sounds correct. At my school the athletes, mainly the football player, don't get any blame for their wrongs. But people who obey the rules tend to get harsher treatment. We've been on the news due to a lot of crap they pull(Wfaa.com and search skyline HS snowball fight) It was a nice day, everyone was having fun in the snow, including me, but all of a sudden the football players start picking people up and throwing them, and tackling us down. But guess who got in trouble, not the players, just people playing in the snow. Our principle dropped the hammer on a lot of us. The dress code enforcement was more strictly enforced, yet i still see football players without so much as their shirts dress code complaint. I see them listening to music and a whole lot of other crap day in and day out. But i wear too many club badges on my lanyard and i get a referral? there are plenty of camera that show them causing trouble, but I literal see one of my friends ,who mind you is as innocent as a high school student can get, Get suspended for three days. but the football who i saw throw four people not counting myself sits there and laughs while she gets pulled away.

Comment by Ebiter on February 17, 2010 at 4:29pm: Yeah, I am on an academic team for my small (under 400) school. We made it to the final round of nationals, yet nobody back in my home town seemed to care. The only "recognition" we got was half a week on the school marque, before being replaced by cheer camp......

Comment by cliffystones on February 17, 2010 at 3:27pm: I graduated in 1976. I see things haven't changed much. Like people who are interested in Football can't imagine that there are those of us who are not.

What's worse is that some of these "popular" athletes leave school and have trouble adjusting to the fact that they are now just another fish in the ocean of life.

I was a darn good bowler in community college though!

Comment by Marc Solomon on February 17, 2010 at 2:00pm: You need a publicist! Don't expect the local paper to just 'know' about your 'Academic Challenge'. If no one calls them and tells them what is going on, they don't hear. Someone from the athletic department does a good job letting the press know what is going on there. That is why the press covers the athletic events. After many years of covering these events, they 'know' that they are happening and that people expect to read about it. Until you get that kind of repeat articles, you are going to have to report the news of your team to the newspaper.
Case in point, for years people flocked from four counties to see my pumpkin carvings every Halloween. The question I received over and over and over is, "Why don't I ever see your pumpkins in the news?" So 2 years ago, I started to call and write all the local newspapers and tv news shows about my pumpkins. Last year, I finally got one to come and see my work and write an article about it. I also got a local library to allow me to teach a class on pumpkin carving, so they ran an article about me also. Next year, it's on the warpath again to get more news teams to notice my pumpkins! Hopefully in a few years, the news teams will contact me about my pumpkins instead of the other way around.

Here are some pics of my pumpkins 2007, 2008
, 2009

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