Washington High School’s Academic Challenge team recently competed in state and regional competitions.
The first level of the competition took place in February at East Central College. From there, the team competed in regional competition in Rolla, where it finished in second place.
A total of 14 students from Washington High School competed in Rolla. Every student took tests in two areas and competed against schools of similar size.
Representing Washington were Jules Parham, Audrey Bush, Santino Vuocolo, David Walker, Alex Davis, Colby Jacquin, Nathan Searcy, Alan Wheeler, James Collier, Ben Griffen, Russell Whitworth, Jacie Buescher, Elizabeth Busch, David Ilc and Ryan Engemann.
Washington’s individual award winners were:
David Walker – First place in Computer Science and third place in Math.
Santino Vuocolo – First place in Physics
Elizabeth Busch - Second place in English
James Collier – Second place in English
Russell Whitworth – Second place in Computer Science
Ben Griffen – Second place in Engineering Graphics
Alan Wheeler - Third place in Biology
Ryan Engemann – Third place in Engineering Graphics
Nathan Searcy - Third place in Engineering Graphics
Washington scored 477 points, earning second place behind Clayton’s 500 points.
Following regional competition, Washington then competed April 24 at Eastern Illinois University.
Washington joined Clayton as Missouri qualifiers for the event. There were 38 teams from Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
While Washington’s team did not place, David Walker did capture first-place honors in Computer Science.
Washington High School’s Academic Challenge team recently competed in regional and state competitions. Front row, from left, are David Ilc, Audrey Bush, Santino Vuocolo, David Walker, Alex Davis and Colby Jacquin. Back row, from left, are Nathan Searcy, Alan Wheeler, James Collier, Russell Whitworth, Jacie Buescher, Elizabeth Busch and Ryan Engemann. Not pictured is Ben Griffen.