LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 5, 2013) – The World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana (WAC) deadline for the annual Academic WorldQuest competition applications is approaching. All applications from high school teams are due no later than Dec. 14. Applications can be made online at worldkentucky.org. The cost is $40 per team. Each team will include four high schoolers per team, plus an alternate (not required).
The Academic WorldQuest is a flagship youth education program of the national network of World Affairs Councils. It is a team game, testing high school students’ knowledge of international affairs. Each team should be composed of four high school students, and a possible alternate (not required), with one adult coach. Area high schools can enter up to two teams. The rounds consist of multiple choice questions divided into ten categories covering pressing current issues in international affairs. Approximately 4,000 students will compete in regional competitions across the country.
Each team who wins a regional competition advances to the National Academic WorldQuest held in Washington, D.C., in April.
Our local student teams have had success at the national level. Two years in a row, 2009 and 2010, Dupont Manual High School in Louisville won the national competition. All high-schoolers in the state of Kentucky can participate, and teams can form in public or private high schools, as well as other venues such as through the YMCA, community center groups, or home schooling programs.
“This year we would like to see a broader mix of students participating from different groups and interest areas. School teams are the norm, but there are many other groups that take an interest in world events that can form a team to complete. We have also invited all those in home schooling programs to join in,” said Xiao Yin Zhao, executive director of WAC in Kentucky/Southern Indiana. “We provide the teams that participate plenty of guidance through study guides and online resources, including our Tumblr blog, www.worldquestkentucky.tumblr.com, so that our teams are prepared for both the regional competition and the national level, if they advance,” she added.
The Kentucky and Southern Indiana Academic WorldQuest will take place Feb. 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the site of its facility sponsor, The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.
2013-2014 topics for this event:
1. Cybersecurity
2. U.S. Energy Policy
3. Global Economic Realignment
4. Middle East
5. Global Environmental Issues
6. U.S. Education
7. UN Millennium Goal 1: To Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
8. Global Health
9. Geography
10. Current Events
Teams from local participating high schools in past years have included: Apollo High School, Owensboro, Ky.; Assumption High School, Louisville, Ky.; Atherton High School, Louisville, Ky.; Louisville Holy Cross, Louisville, Ky.; Dupont Manual High School, Louisville, Ky.; Our Lady of Providence, Clarksville, Ind.; and St. Henry High School, Erlanger, Ky.
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