This story originally appeared in the Feb. 24 issue of the Community Voice. For your own subscription, call 270-384-9454.
The Adair County Elementary School Academic Team won the District 38 Governor’s Cup this past week at Russell Springs Elementary School.
Adair County won a first-place finish in Future Problem Solving (FPS) and Quick Recall, while several students notched individual victories. With the. win, Adair County has qualified for the regional tournament March 5 at Joe Harrison Carter Elementary School in Tompkinsville.
“They’ve been practicing for this since September, so it’s great to see all the hard work pay off,” said Lisa Newell-Hare, one of the team’s two coaches, along with Jeana Pike. “We’ve got great students and a supportive group of parents/ guardians, who helped make this happen.”
This year’s ACES team includes 20 members: Riley Andrew, Christopher Armenti, Alaynah Bayuk, Madison Burkhardt, Addison Chapman, Elaine Cook, Lily Coots, Wiley Feese, Leo Garsee, Chloe Grider, RyAnna Hale, Rocky Klingberg, Suzy Kotter, Patrick Oliver, Bentley Petty, Ellie Staten, Mia Stephens, Cole Stockton, Pierce Stotts, and Maddie Wethington.
The winning FPS team featured Andrew, Coots, Garsee, Grider, Hale, Kotter, Petty, Stephens, Stockton, and Stotts. The group’s topic for the competition was “Building Green.”
“These students never cease to amaze me with their creativity and problem-solving skills,” said Pike, who focuses her coaching duties on FPS. “They’ve worked hard to learn and apply the six-step creative problem-solving model to complex issues facing society today. It was a great challenge for them and they’re truly winners in my eyes.”
First place individual winners for ACES include: Andrew (Arts & Humanities), Armenti (Science), Oliver (Mathematics & Social Studies), and Staten (Language Arts). Other top-five finishers were Andrew (second in Written Composition), Armenti (fourth in Mathematics & second in Social Studies), Cook (second in Science & fifth in Arts & Humanities), Feese (second in Science & fourth in Written Composition), Stockton (fourth in Arts & Humanities) and Wethington (fourth in Language Arts).
One of the most competitive portions of the competition Saturday was the Quick Recall event. ACES won all four matches it competed in.
“I was extremely proud of how well they persevered in a long day of competitions,” said Newell-Hare. “They kept the right attitude the whole time, encouraging their own teammates, as well as their opponents.”
Quick Recall team members were: Bayuk, Burkhardt, Chapman, Feese, Hale, Klingberg, Kotter, Oliver, Stockton, Stotts, and Wethington.
The ACES team will compete in the region competition for FPS and Written Composition, and Written Assessments and Quick Recall.
“We can’t wait for the regional competition,” Newell-Hare said. “The students are excited for the opportunity.”
