Background: This was one of the more interesting articles in terms of origin. The school teacher was actually quite proud of her students for getting third place in the global competition. The competition basically tests students on their general knowledge and math. When our editor placed the article on the backburner, the teacher, along with some parents, called up to complain. As a result, the article was published, albeit belatedly.

Know- It- Alls, 

Winners, All

Washington Junior High

Comes in 3rd

in World Wide Competition

Three times a week, as hordes of chattering students pour through Washington Junior High's heavy glass doors, 14 seventh and eighth-graders gather in Room 308. 

For months, they trained by speed-reading general-knowledge questions for hours each day, preparing for an international competition: the Academic Masters Open, a timed competition involving about 1,000 high school teams from around the world.

In this room, students who might otherwise hide their brilliance from
their peers wear their accomplishments like a badge of honor

Team coach Marie Lindmark calls them  "the handpicked, best of
the best" the school has to offer. The dream team is an eclectic mix of students who had won earlier competitions in spelling bees, geography bees and quiz bowls.

"I've never had such a brilliant group of students," Mrs. Lindmark said.
"They don't read line by line; they block-read and process the information in a second."

And the dream team doesn't disappoint.

It recently outperformed 984 teams participating in the Open
— including teams from math and science powerhouses like
Singapore and Korea — to finish in third place worldwide.
The team scored 1,690 points;

Carnegie Middle School in North Carolina was 22 points
ahead. The average score was 1,212.

Washington assembled its academic team last year to participate in the twice-yearly Open. Teachers gave tests to the whole Washington student body in their respective disciplines and students with the highest scores were invited to join the academic team.

The team's has enjoyed a charmed ride so far. 

In April 2000, the fledgling squad placed 30th among 1,179
teams competing. 

It moved up 19 places to 11th last December. 

The sponsoring organization, Academic Hallmark, sends a program disk to participating teams. Each question is timed by the computer and points are awarded according to how quickly contestants give the right answers. The results are then sent back to the organizers. 

The competition involves 14 curriculum areas, including mathematics, politics, religion and health. Any of the 12 students can give an answer,  when the session is on, but they know who their experts in each area are and respectfully let them take on the question. 

At practice sessions, team members read questions displayed on a projector screen, and one keys the answer in on a key-
board. Most of the students can take in a three-line, multiple-
choice question with five possible answers and yell out the
right one within four seconds.

In the single second between questions, they find time to throw
snide remarks at each other.

"The only other thing more common than hydrogen in this world is stupidity," grouses eighth-grader John Vogel as the key-boarder  mistook a B and typed in a D for the answer instead.

Vogel had to eat his words when he gave two wrong answers consecutively moments later, an unpardonable sin in this high caliber group.

Coach Lindmark dismisses the caustic jibs that followed with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"There's a lot of playing around in these sessions." she said. "But when it comes to the real thing, they go like this." Coach Lindmark stiffens her arms and shoulders, opens her eyes wide and tightens her lips.

"They really do respect each other and work together," she said. "That is the mark of a team that has proven themselves to the world." 

(End)