2013 Academic WorldQuest National Competition

Last Saturday morning, in a large conference room on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington DC, four Walpole High School seniors participated in the 2013 Academic WorldQuest National Competition.  This is the second year in a row that Jake Kelsey, Ross Bubly, Jungbin Lim, and Kevin Delaney won the Massachusetts state competition and earned a trip to DC.  Working as a team, the foursome answered a total of 100 questions in 10 different categories ranging from U.S. Economic Competitiveness to Geography to the Middle East.

With forty schools in attendance from all over the country, the competition was fierce.  Although Walpole did not earn a spot in the top three, the students and their teacher-chaperone, Mr. Jeffrey Szymanski, are pleased with their accomplishments.  “These kids are real self-starters”, Szymanski said.  “They formed this team on their own in their junior year, strategically divided up their preparation, and sought out a faculty member to advise them.” 

Szymanski noted it was his department chair in social studies, Mr. Tom Morris, who advised the team for two years and attended the state competitions in Boston this year and last as well as the 2012 national competition.  “I was a pinch hitter, vowing to gladly accompany the team to DC in 2013 if they won the state championship”, Szymanski stated.  “Jake sent me a one-liner e-mail after the team won in Boston on April 6^th that simply read, ‘see you in DC.’ ”

The four saw very little of DC in 2012 other than two embassies and the Georgetown campus.  WorldBoston paid for transportation and hotel costs for one night in DC.  This year, Walpole’s American Legion generously donated $600 so the students could spend two nights in the city to see some of the city’s attractions.

All flew in to DC early Friday morning.  After a quick photo in front of the White House, the group walked to the Capitol and received a tour from an intern in Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office.  They then watched from the House gallery as their U.S Representatives debated the now infamous “sequester” to stop the furloughing of air traffic controllers.  Mr. Szymanski was pretty amazed at their excitement.  “These kids are real political junkies, and they knew the names of many of the reps on the House floor.” 

After Saturday’s competition, the students had plenty of free time to visit the Smithsonian museums and the monuments.  It was an early flight home Sunday morning before returning to school Monday, having made their parents and community extremely proud of their success.