Henderson Wins State Academic Team Championship

West Chester Henderson finished first at the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition that took place in the Capitol building in Harrisburg. The state competition began at 9:00 a.m. on May 6 with 23 county academic champions from across the state competing against one another in a series of matches in which teams earned points in order to qualify to advance to the semifinals. Nine teams earned a spot in one of three semi-final matches. The winner of each of those matches then advanced to the championship game.

Each of the 29 intermediate units in Pennsylvania was permitted to send one high school academic team to participate in the competition.

“It feels good to bring home the school’s first-ever academic championship,” said senior Ben Herman, Henderson team co-captain. “But this victory isn’t just a win for our team and school. We were lucky enough to be able to compete against some of the best schools in the state right here in Chester County all season long, which was really a big help in preparing us, so we owe all of the other teams a ‘congratulations’ too.”

In fact, West Chester Henderson had only made one other appearance at states, in 1993. And, they were not going to give up their second chance at the state championship without a fight.

Stephen Sobieck, who has overseen the teacher-advisor responsibility for Henderson’s Academic Team for quite a while, said, “Not only is the season for the academic competition like a mental marathon, from the first week of September to the first week of May, but the practice days are long too. Practices last until 3:45 or 4:00 which is like the “9th and 10th periods” of the school day.  Students need to maintain their mental focus while drawing on all areas of their curriculum. In addition, participating in outside tournaments against top high schools in the Northeast raised the bar for us, providing the confidence that we can compete against the best and succeed.  That confidence provided us an edge in the tight matches we had in Harrisburg.”

“We were in a tough place during the first round of the championships,” said Ryan Mullner, Henderson team co-captain. “We were behind because we were getting beat at buzzing in, but knew we had to keep going because we could not waste the opportunity we had to be state champions.”

Henderson’s top administrator directed applause to the students and some to the coaches as well. “Head Coach Steve Sobiek and his assistant Bruce Kozak always do a tremendous job of charting individual and collective preparatory programs, as well as fostering a healthy competitive environment within the team,” said B. Reed Henderson High School Principal Robert Sokolowski. “Of course, when our students are in a competition involving accomplished scholars from every corner of the State of Pennsylvania, coming out on top amplifies their accomplishment dramatically and we’re all very proud of the Warrior Academic Team.”

During the competition, students answered a variety of challenging questions from categories including: literature, science, American and world history, geography, fine arts and contemporary events. Each match consisted of two rounds with ten toss-up questions for any of the teams to “buzz in” and answer, and six fanfare questions per team, which are to be answered in rapid succession within 60 seconds.

West Chester Henderson was joined at the state competition by its sister school West Chester Bayard Rustin. As the returning state champion, Rustin is automatically given a spot at the state competition to defend its title. Rustin also fared well in the competition making it to the semifinal round where they fell to Parkland High School.

In the earlier competition held for Chester County teams, West Chester East’s Junior Varsity team took the top spot in their

The Pennsylvania Academic Competition is sponsored by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and hosted by the Honorable Mark Gillen, Berks County. The Competition is funded by the Pennsylvania State Education Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units. It is coordinated by the Chester County Intermediate Unit.

Used Courtesy of the West Chester Area School District.