A huge congratulations to this year’s team representing West Boca for not only winning the finals, but placing first in both rounds of competition that took place!   

This year, students from high schools all over Palm Beach County competed in the 35th annual Academic Challenge. The competition consisted of 3 rounds that took place over three days in late February and early March 2022 at The Education Network (T.E.N) studios, which is the television station of the Palm Beach County School District, in Boynton Beach. The highest scoring two high schools from each round of competition moved on to compete in the final round of competition. 

The Academic Challenge is where high school students compete in teams against each other in order to advance to the next level.This year’s sponsor for West Boca High School was Mr.Matz, the AICE U.S. History teacher. There were 11 teams that competed in the competition. A team is made up of several individuals in various grade levels from a particular school, but only four students compete at one time. The students representing West Boca were William Cortese, Alex Stone, Ezequiel Bautista, Benjamin Frohman, Annabel Allen, Nicole Stone, and Malina Perdue. This challenge consisted of two total rounds per session. Each round contained a 5 point, 10 point, and 15 point questionnaire. The questions were trivia-like questions about different school subjects, such as history, math, science, foreign language, literature, fine arts, etc. 

The teams that competed in this year’s finals were: 

Team 1: AW Dreyfoos

Team 2: Olympic Heights

Team 3: PB Central

Team 4: Park Vista

Team 5: Suncoast

Team 6: West Boca

Many school districts from around the United States host their own Academic Challenge competitions. According to the Galion City School District (of Galion, Ohio), “The mission of the [Academic Challenge] program is to encourage high-achieving students to build academic teams and further expand their knowledge through friendly competitions and quiz games. Students who become a part of the program commit to attending regular team practices resulting in eligibility to participate in local, regional, and state academic matches and tournaments.” 

After winning the preliminary round of competition, West Boca High School advanced to the finals. It was a very close competition with Olympic Heights, however, West Boca prevailed and won the entire competition.  Following the presentation of the trophy to West Boca for winning the competition, a District All Star Team was chosen. This All Star Team consisted of the students who had the highest scores within each category. Alexander Stone was chosen to represent West Boca High School on the All Star team this year. This team will represent the School District of Palm Beach County at Walt Disney World, in the state competition which takes place April 1-3, 2022. 

The link provided below is the filmed video of the final round of the Academic Challenge. Watch this video if you would love to see West Boca take the amazing win! 

A Team 2022 Finals Show