Firelands Challenge season starts Tuesday
Sep. 29—SANDUSKY — The 42nd season of the Firelands Challenge Program will begin next week with a returning team, a returning champion, new question categories, and a new match site. Oak Harbor High School will return to the program after a brief hiatus. Edison High School will return to defend its unprecedented 10th straight title.
Edison won the 2021-22 championship last March by defeating Bellevue and Perkins high schools. It has most of the team members returning this season to help in its quest to remain atop the standings.
Firelands Challenge is an academic competition for area high schools. Eighteen teams will participate in six rounds of matches during the season. The top two teams go to the championship rounds. The third- through fifth-place teams participate in a play-off round with the winner entering the championship rounds.
In addition to recurring question categories such as American literature, mathematics, life sciences and world history, teams will face some different topics this year. The Great Books category has new selections including The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. There will be questions related to Shakespeare's The Tempest and to National Park Service sites. The Fine Arts category will include questions about Tchaikovsky's productive life and works.
The first three rounds of matches will be held at the Kalahari Resort. The second half of the season will see matches return to the EHOVE Career Center.
The first round of matches consists of the following teams:
Tuesday, Oct. 4
9:45 a.m. — Margaretta, Norwalk, Edison
10:45 a.m. — Western Reserve, Sandusky, Port Clinton
11:45 a.m. — Oak Harbor, St. Mary CC, Danbury
Tuesday, Oct. 19
9:45 a.m. — Willard, Bellevue, Perkins
10:45 a.m. — Huron, South Central, Lakota
11:45 a.m. — St. Paul, New London, Monroeville
Edison has seven returning team members guided by advisors Amy Facemire and Sarah Roan. Bellevue, which finished in second place last season, has six returning team members and is advised by Jennifer Mercer. Perkins, the third-place team, has only four team members returning. It also has a new co- advisor, Mike Mauntier, who joins with Meghan Smith.
Each of the teams had one preseason match. Winners of those matches and their scores were: Oak Harbor (38); Huron (36); Edison (54); Perkins (42); Port Clinton (38); and New London (30).
The Firelands Challenge Program is supported by several area business and civic organizations. New sponsors this year include: Dutch Maid Logistics (Willard); Erie Blacktop, Inc. (Sandusky), Norwalk Wastewater Equipment Company, and Ohio Eastern Express, Inc. (Sandusky).
Also new this year is Croghan Colonial Bank with branches throughout the area. It is sponsoring the prize money for the top schools this season. In addition, college scholarships are provided by BGSU Firelands.
"The sponsors are a critical element in making this academic program available to area schools," said William Muthig, program coordinator. "We are pleased to have all of the new and returning sponsoring organizations for the next season."
The Firelands Challenge Program is presented by the North Point Educational Service Center. The Center is a regional educational services provider that assists school systems in north central Ohio. Its core offerings include: Specialized Instruction and Pupil Support, Student Achievement and School Performance, Early Learners and Literacy Assistance, and Leadership and Organizational Support. For more information go to http://npesc.org/.
