Academic Team from Hacker finishes third

The Mountain Home Academic Team from Hacker Middle School tied for third place during the InterValley League Academic Competition at Hacker's annex gymnasium Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Students from Mountain Home competed against students representing seven other schools between Vallivue, Syringa, Kuna, Jefferson, Middleton, Sage Valley and Treasure Valley Catholic Schools.

The Mountain Home team was led by coach Susan Varnier, who has coached the team since the 2007 school year.

"I think that this is a great program, it gives kids that are academically gifted a great opportunity to take part in an extracurricular activity for their school."

The event marked the third in six regular season meets for the year, with the championship meet between the top four teams to be held in Kuna during the month of May.

The competition is divided into three rounds with five students from each school competing in each round.

In the first round, students were asked ten questions such as naming the new Vice President (Joe Biden) or the two teams to play in the upcoming Super Bowl (Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals).

Once the questions are given, the students write their answers down on index cards and ten points are awarded for every correct answer, with no penalties for incorrect answers.

In the second round, students are asked questions from five predetermined categories: the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, geometric figures, topographical maps, espionage and presidential inaugurals.

During the round, each team answers one question from each category, with ten points awarded for each correct answer with no deductions for an incorrect answer.

The final round of the competition consists of a speed round with 40 questions ranging from a variety of subjects, with ten points awarded for a correct answer and a ten point penalty for an incorrect answer.

Sage Valley succeeded in the final round making up an early deficit from the previous rounds by answering 11 questions correctly to win the meet.

Mountain Home tied with Jefferson with 90 points overall earning two points for the overall competition, while Sage Valley finished in first place with 170 points earning four points overall and Vallivue finished second with 120 points earning three points overall.

Mountain Home's third place finish on Thursday, combined with their second place finish during the October meet and their first-place finish during the November meet, puts Mountain Home in a tie for second place with Vallivue (nine overall points), while Sage Valley is in the lead with 10 overall points.

Varnier commended the students for their efforts.

"I think the students felt very comfortable, they prepared themselves really well for this year's meet."

The February meet for the InterValley League Academic Competition will be held in Sage Valley on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

During the meet the students will be tested in such categories as the atomic world, wildlife of the Arctic and Antarctic, mathematics history, short stories and Roman gods. More Photos