La Plata High School’s It’s Academic team earned the top spot in the annual Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) competition held Dec. 4 at Thomas Stone High School.
The La Plata three-member team of Matthew Kamin (team captain), Colin McNulty and Sarah Bard won in the championship round against Thomas Stone and Maurice J. McDonough high schools to earn first place. Thomas Stone earned second place in the championship round, followed by McDonough in third place.
Each year, the first-place team goes on to compete in a regional match. This year’s match is against Magruder and Stonewall high schools and airs April 5 on NBC4. The second-place winner at the county level earns a chance to also compete in a regional match to air in early fall.
The Greater Waldorf Jaycees presented La Plata with a $500 scholarship for their first-place win. William Coggins, Thomas “T.C.” Martin, Bethany Riege, Matthew Fan, William Bermudez, Alec Hunsaker, Justin Cortez, Carleigh Hoy, Bryan Dang, Chris Kuhn and Alexandra Saunders are also members of the La Plata team. Team coach is Amanda Ferncez, a science teacher at La Plata.
As second place winners, Thomas Stone received a $250 scholarship from the Jaycees. Students competing in the event were the three-member team of Captain Robert Jeffrey, Mia Chase and Kaitlyn Crook. Alternates were Mary Krucelyak and Matthew Trusnovic. Rachel Pritchett Lee Powell, Michael Demarco, Alex Trimble and Lizzie Pritchett are also members of the team. Team coaches are Nancy Jeffrey, a German teacher, and Sara Thompson, an English teacher.
For their participation in the competition, all other high schools received a $250 scholarship from the Jaycees. The other high school three-member teams were: Henry E. Lackey High School – Captain Terryll Montgomery, Nate Dudley and Kevin Chen; McDonough – Captain Adrianne Turner, Franklin Olmstead and Nicholas Schouten; North Point High School – Captain Joel Rogers, Ashlynn Stanley and Dennis Whitley; Westlake High School – Captain Athina Ketchum, Michael Rowley and Susan Duncan.
Caleb Bickerstaff is the Lackey team alternate. Christian Warren, Tuba Tanveer, Kaela Proctor, Aaron Lebeau, Jack Wiegand, Alan Fusina, Maxim Bode, Mailin Quinto, Trayson Thomas, Darius Short, Zakaria Lee Abderrahim, Jeremiah Blakeman and Jeremy Carey are also members of the Lackey team. Team coach is Don Browder, a social studies teacher at Lackey.
Jesse Zeitler is the McDonough team alternate. Pateley Bongiorni, Angela Cruz, Jeanne Dela Cruz, Bridget Cunningham, Faith Hawkins, Sydney Hicks, Marissa Jefferson and Christina Paras are also members of the McDonough team. Team coach is Courtney Abell, an English teacher at McDonough.
Completing the North Point team are Kehle Hatch, Luke Gibson, Skye Corbin, Aric Gaskill, James Adkins and Wesley Jefferies. Team coach is Maureen Stewart, a Spanish teacher at North Point.
Completing the Westlake team are Christina Hightower, Damien Dugan, Marsha Forson, Ben Nordmann, Jonathan Land, Oluwademil Daniel-Akanle and Errol Chatman. Team coach is James Ressler, an English teacher at Westlake and isassisted by Matthew Howard, a Westlake social studies teacher.
The Dec. 4 competition will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, the school system’s television stations. Check the programming schedule at http://beta.ccboe.com/ccboetv/ for dates and times.
