Trickum Middle School Academic Team Wins Top Honors

A team of six Trickum Middle School students were recently awarded first place in the 2012 Junior National Academic Championship Tournament.

The team beat out 47 teams from across the nation for the honor.

The students on the team are: Brent Bessemer, Keaton Law, Jordan Rice, and Julie Wang, all eighth graders; Jason Fan, a seventh grader; and sixth-grader Ansel Ahabue.

During a three-day competition that took place simultaneously in Washington D.C., Chicago, and New Orleans, the students were undefeated throughout the entire time.

The team qualified for the national tournament by winning first place at the Georgia Academic Team Association (GATA) state finals and placing second in the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE)-sponsored state finals during the school year.

Academic Team competitions resemble the game show Jeopardy, only they are played as teams. Questions cover geography, science, math, language arts, art, history, music, literature, sports, spelling, and current events.

This is the 14th year that Trickum Middle School has had an Academic Team.

Gwinnett County School Board recognized the winning students at its September meeting. 

(Editor's Note: This article was taken from a Gwinnett County Public Schools press release.)