Ann Arbor Academic Games excel in national tournament

Students received a total of 34 team and 48 individual awards

Ann Arbor Academic Games participated in the 55th Annual Academic Games National Tournament from April 22-26 in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Representing four AAPS high schools, Clague Middle School, and King Elementary, Ann Arbor Academic Games received 34 team and 48 individual awards.

Students from AAPS high schools combined to form teams of five students in grades 9/10 or 11/12, competing in all seven games at the tournament:  Equations (math), LinguiSHTIK (grammar), On Sets (set theory), Propaganda (rhetoric), Presidents, Current Events, and Theme (history).

This year’s high school team consisted of Simon Shavit (Community); Alexandra Van Laven, Alfredo Meza, Anthony Varkey, Andy Xu (Huron); Andrew Chen, Ryan Chen, Bruno Garcia, Mason Holst (Pioneer); David Chen, and David Lee (Skyline).

These high school students brought home a total of 12 team trophies and 26 individual awards, including National Championships in LinguiSHTIK, On Sets, Current Events, and Theme. “It’s About Drive” and “It’s About Power” both won the coveted Sweepstakes Championship for the best overall team scores for their age group.  Alexandra Van Laven earned the top prize of senior division Sweepstakes Champion, the highest overall individual, with perfect scores in Equations and Current Events and placing 2nd in Theme.  

Karishma Mathew (WiHi) and fellow high school students David Chen and Anthony Varkey coached the King Academic Games team this year to a 2nd place team Sweepstakes victory in their elementary division.

Benjamin Wang from King Elementary and Rogan Geyer from Scarlett Middle School won first place Individual Sweepstakes Champion in their respective divisions.  

Ann Arbor Academic Games gives local students the opportunity to meet regularly and compete in educational game playing. The purposes of the organization are to encourage learning and achievement, to instill the values of character and integrity in students, and to provide students the opportunity to meet and share ideas with peers from other schools.

In Academic Games, we compete in games of math, English, and history. The games of Equations, On-Sets, and LinguiSHTIK are played face-to-face with groups of three students, where they must not only demonstrate proficiency in the concepts but the ability to use them creatively as well. In Presidents and Propaganda, students are presented with difficult questions that require critical thinking and knowledge of the subject matter to solve. Each student has a specialty and passion for one or more of the games, but to reach the pinnacle of AG success, a student must master them all, developing a well-rounded approach to academics in the process.

Academic Games Leagues of America provides a series of Academic Games competitions throughout the nation culminating in the AGLOA National Tournament in late spring each year. 

Ann Arbor Academic Games participants compete on the state level with the Michigan League of Academic Games, and on the national level with Academic Games Leagues of America. Over the course of the year, students meet peers from a wide variety of backgrounds who share their interests in learning and academics.  

Congratulations to all Academic Games students and coaches!

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