FARMINGTON -- The 2019-20 season for Academic Competition in Education is underway, and team members have been studying to prepare for their games.
The ACE program is different from Quiz Bowl in that teams are given specific books and chapters to study in preparing for their matches. Questions are asked on subjects in each game that include physics, chemistry, Shakespeare, math, biology, world history, art history, American government and literature.
The first half of a match concentrates more on language arts and the second half is more math and science questions. Players also have to know the latest news and sports of the week for questions on current events.
Five Northwest Arkansas high schools are participating this year and already, the competition is close among the schools: Farmington, Prairie Grove, Bentonville High, Bentonville West and Gravette.
Farmington and Prairie Grove are in second and third place, respectively, through the first two series of matches.
Bentonville High School's ACE team is in first place with 121 points. Farmington has 114 points; Prairie Grove, 101 points; Bentonville West, 87 points; and Gravette is in fifth place with 73 points.
Farmington won its first match held Nov. 21 against Prairie Grove. Bentonville High won its match that day against Bentonville West and Gravette.
Last week's games were held Dec. 4 at Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative in Farmington.
Farmington and Prairie Grove tied for first place with 55 points apiece. Bentonville West also competed in that match and scored 45 points. In the second game, Bentonville High School won with 59 points to Gravette's 37 points.
Clayton Williams, Farmington's ACE coach, said the scores show how evenly matched the teams are this year.
"It shows us how close everybody is and how crucial each point is," Williams said after the matches on Dec. 4. "The good news is that no matter what, we'll be in the semi-finals or the finals. It's all about placement."
The five schools competing this year will each play three matches during the season. Teams accumulate points from their matches to come up with a year-end total.
At the end of the third series, the team with the most points will advance to the championship game Feb. 26 at the Farmington Performing Arts Center.
The team with the second most points will play the fifth-place team, and the third and fourth place teams will go against each other. The winners of those semi-final matches will advance to the championship game.
Donna Mitchell, who coaches Prairie Grove's ACE team, said her students improved their score from the first game to their second game.
"That puts us in a good standing," Mitchell said. "They improved and answered more questions. They work really well as a team. I'm proud of them."
General News on 12/11/2019