Civics contest brings out academic champs
| Wednesday, Dec 02 2009 10:53 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Dec 02 2009 10:54 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian BHS student Jeovany Nunez, thinks hard before answering one of the tough questions, Wednesday evening at the Harvey Auditorium during the The Earl Warren Cup 2009 at Bakersfield High School.
Casey Christie / The Californian BHS student Anna Keathley does a short tap dance upon her introduction by Jeremy Adams, AP teacher at Bakersfield High School, Wednesday, during The Earl Warren Cup 2009 competition.
Casey Christie / The Californian Earl Warren Cup 2009 competitor Chase Reed brought his own camera to Wednesday's event at Harvey Auditorium while he answers questions at the podium against his rival.
Casey Christie / The Californian Participants in the Earl Warren Cup 2009 were introduced while on stage Wednesday at Bakersfield High School during the 4th annual event.
Casey Christie / The Californian Elise Norris competes in the annual Earl Warren Cup 2009 at Bakersfied High School Wednesday.
What diplomatic controversy was John Marshall involved in before he was appointed to the Supreme Court?
With the answer -- the X,Y,Z Affair -- senior Wesley Elrich became the fourth person to win Bakersfield High School's Earl Warren Cup Wednesday night at Harvey Auditorium on campus.
More than 1,000 people nearly filled the auditorium to witness the civics tournament created by the school's government teacher and event moderator Jeremy Adams.
"That was exhilarating," Elrich said while holding two gigantic trophies, including the Earl Warren Cup, named for the former California governor, former U.S. Chief Justice and BHS alumnus. "People were expecting me to win. They weren't surprised. But I kind of was."
Thirty-two of Adams' top Advanced Placement government students from three classes battled through five rounds. Adams prepared nearly 500 questions, including video, audio and picture questions, from his curriculum and current events.
Principal David Reese called the students "some of the most academically gifted students at the high school."
At stake: scholarship money, trophies and right to be called the top government student at the school.
Elrich was the favorite to win mainly because he was the No. 1 seed in the bracket-style competition. He is Adams' top student, with a class grade percentage of 99.4, last time checked, he said.
Before the tournament began, Elrich said he wasn't a shoe-in to win.
"I know how hard everyone has prepared for this," Elrich said.
In fact, he narrowly escaped defeat against two unranked students, including finalist Aubrey Green. The final four, which also included Brandon Hollenbeck and Grant Paulson, received trophies and scholarship money.
Though the tournament is competitive in nature, Adams created the contest as a way for the students to study and learn about America's history, prepare for tests and mostly to make civics education fun.
And fun is clearly a focus. The competition was filled from the start with spectacle, comedy and surprises.
The Earl Warren Cup was dropped from the ceiling into Adams' hands. Students were slowly lifted on stage through the orchestra pit amid fog and thunderous applause. A teacher wearing all black handed top-secret questions packaged inside of a briefcase.
Quirky facts were shared about students as they were introduced. Students entertained with tap dancing, piccolo playing and Slovenian cursing.
Even Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and John McCain dropped by (Palin and Obama were cardboard cutouts, and McCain was played by a student).
It's no wonder Adams begins preparing for the competition in October. He garners sponsors, which included Chevron and Grimmway Farms among others.
And each year, the tournament has gathered more followers, starting with 300 its first year, to about 1,200 last year, and still a few more this year. More schools are becoming interested, as evidenced by the fact that students from North, Centennial, Frontier and Mira Monte high schools were in the audience.
Though not aggressively pursuing it, Adams would welcome having high schools throughout Kern County compete. The tournament combines curriculum students have to master with "a kind of athletic flavor of competition," Adams said.
"There's not that many places to showcase academic excellence," Adams said. "This gives them a public forum to demonstrate their knowledge."
Winner of the 2007 Earl Warren Cup, Melissa Morris, said she hopes the competition grows. Morris, a sophomore at USC, said the competition was a fun way to learn government class material, prepare for the AP test, and it was a "great motivator."
Blake Keathley, who got third place in 2007, said the competition was more than just preparation for a test.
"It helped move me in the right direction in keeping up to date with current events, and essentially become a better citizen," Keathley said. "It really helped foster a sense of patriotism."
