Local Students Do Well In Academic Competition

Union County area students did well at a recent academic competitions.

Shawnee Community College hosted the annual Illinois Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering, WYSE, Academic Challenge Feb. 11.

The challenge has been an annual event in Illinois schools since 1975.

The WYSE Academic Challenge is an opportunity to challenge the area’s brightest high school students in the subject areas of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics, and physics.

Each school sends a team of up to 14 members and each student will take two multiple choice tests ranging from 30-100 questions each.

Schools are separated into divisions based on total enrollment; schools only compete against other schools within their division.

Division 700 contains schools with 301 to 699 students and division 300 contains schools with 300 or fewer students.

Overall, the division 300 team winners were Goreville High School with a first place score of 454, Dongola High School with a second place score of 436 and Joppa High School in third with 432 points.

Massac County High School took the lead of division 700 with 497 points, Vienna High School came in second with 404 points and Anna-Jonesboro Community High School was third with 402 points.

“What I love about this event is that it allows students to be recognized for their hard-work and academic excellence," said SCC event coordinator Lori Armstrong.

"In addition, every school that participated got to take home trophies and/or medals from the event," Armstrong added.

The top two scoring teams and individuals in each subject advance to the WYSE sectional competition scheduled March 10 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Individual results achieved by students from Union County schools follow:

<strong>Division 300 Schools</strong>

Biology: Jessica Whitaker, Shawnee High School, Wolf Lake, tie for third.

Chemistry: Andrew M. Murphy, Dongola High School, second.

Computer Science: Etta M. Mead, Dongola High School, and Jacinta Snyder, Shawnee High School, tie for second.Dakota C. Cummins, Dongola High School, third.

Engineering Graphics: Jacob M. Webster, Dongola High School, first.

English: Shaylin Goins, Shawnee High School, first.Andrew Chandler, Shawnee High School, second. Kacie Hill, Shawnee High School, third.

Math: Dakota C. Cummins, Dongola High School, tie for second. Kacie Hill, Shawnee High School, tie for third.

<strong>Division 700 Schools</strong>

Computer Science: Charlie Finstead, Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, tie for third.

Engineering Graphics: Casey Moore and Brandon Schlenker, both from Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, tie for second.

Math: Joey Flamm, Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, first. Sarah Frankland-Searby, Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, tie for second.

Physics: Joey Flamm, Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, third.