Illinois High School Team Bests 27 Teams From Across the U.S. To Capture $15,000 in Scholarships
ORLANDO, Fla., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of six high school students representing the State of Illinois outlasted teams from 27 other U.S. states and territories to take home the top prize in the 21st annual Panasonic Academic Challenge -- the premier high school academic competition in the nation -- at the Walt Disney World's Contemporary Hotel and Resort. Second place was awarded to the Florida All-Star team and third place was awarded to the Dorman High School team from South Carolina.
The team of six students, Mike Verity of Noridge, Ill., Greg Gauthier of Wheaton Ill., Siva Sundaram of Rockford, Ill., Curt Peterson of Wheaton, Ill., and John Brown of Rockford, Ill., were coached by Head Coach Nick Pitz and Co-Coach Dave Adkins. The Illinois All-Star team defeated the All-Star Florida team by one point in the National Championship. The Dorman High School team from South Carolina came in third place, followed by the All-Star Kentucky team in fourth, the Ezell-Harding Christian School team from Tennessee in fifth, and finally the California team from Torrey Pines High School placed sixth.
Each member of this year's winning team from Illinois received a $2,500 scholarship, the runner-up team members from Florida each received $1,500 scholarships and the third place team members from South Carolina each received $500 scholarships courtesy of Panasonic. The top three teams also received Panasonic Academic Championship rings from Herff Jones Inc.
"On behalf of Panasonic, I want to congratulate all of the participants in this year's competition," said Joseph Taylor, Executive Vice President and COO. "Education is the foundation of our future, and we have been proud to support this academic competition throughout the years. This year's championship team from Illinois should take great pride in the scholastic and personal accomplishments that have earned them an exclusive place in this competition's rich history."
The Panasonic Academic Challenge is modeled after Florida's state tournament. Unlike most quick-response contests, the Panasonic Academic Challenge uses a slower-paced format in which as many as six teams at a time answer questions created by a panel of high school and college educators from around the nation. Subjects include mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, fine arts, foreign languages (French & Spanish) and technology.
The teams, which are comprised of six high school students and one or two coaches, are selected to represent their respective participating U.S. state and territory at the tournament where the teams compete for more than $31,500 in academic scholarships and the title of Panasonic Academic Challenge National Champion. The method of team selection varies by state. States with existing state competitions send their championship school or an All-Star team selected from participants at the state competition. In some states, interested schools submit team profiles and the Panasonic Academic Challenge tournament committee selects a state representative.
The 2008 participating teams included:
Alabama: Hoover High School
California: Torrey Pines High School
Colorado: Grand Junction High School
District of Columbia: All-Star Team
Florida: All-Star Team
Guam: Academic of Our Lady of Guam
Idaho: Mackay High School
Illinois: All-Star Team
Indiana: Ben Davis High School
Iowa: All-Star Team
Kentucky: All-Star Team
Louisiana: Baton Rouge Magnet High School
Maine: Oak Hill High School
Maryland: All-Star Team
Montana: Skyview High School
New Hampshire: All-Star Team
New Jersey: Indian Hills High School
New Mexico: Southwest Secondary Learning Center
Ohio: Garfield Heights High School
Oklahoma: All-Star Team
Pennsylvania: State College Area High School
South Carolina: Dorman High School
Tennessee: Ezell-Harding Christian School
Vermont: All-Star Team
West Virginia: St. Mary's High School
Wisconsin: Rufus King High School
Wyoming: All-Star Team
For more information on the Panasonic Academic Challenge, please visit http://www.polk-fl.net/students/academiccompetitions/panasonic/ .
About Panasonic
Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic Corporation of North America markets a broad line of digital and other electronics products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic and its products is available at www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.
SOURCE Panasonic
For further information: Molly McDowell, Panasonic, +1-201-348-7185, mcdowellm@us.panasonic.com; or Stephanie Chaney, Peppercom for Panasonic, +1-212-931-6106, schaney@peppercom.com
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