Stamford Students Rank High At National Academic Championship

STAMFORD, CT — Rogers International School sixth and seventh grade teams recently ranked high at the 37th Annual National Academic Championship, earning second and third places respectively, Stamford Public Schools announced this week. The students traveled to Washington, D.C. for the competition under the direction of teachers Michael Argenio and Cara Denison.

According to a statement from the district, the sixth grade team of Owen Brooks, Andrea Cordulack, Mia Luciani, Bennett Schindelman and Caleb You placed second overall in their division.

The seventh grade team of Emma Argenio, Tyler Denison, Tallulah Lintern, Arush Raoand Tomas Zaleski placed third.

"The teachers and students at Rogers International School exemplified the best of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile, student agency and action through their participation in this event," Principal Cathleen Cummings said in an email to Patch. "The entire RIS community is honored by their commitment to inquiry throughout the year."

The students qualified for the competition earlier this year at the Northeast Division Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl, which required each of the 30 competing teams to take a 100 multiple-choice question computer test. The test covered a range of subjects, including math, geography, government, sports, spelling, science, literature, English, history, general information and trivia.

The test was taken as a team and required each member to participate around one computer. Each team received two chances to answer the questions correctly, earning points for both speed and accuracy.

The following sixth graders placed fifth in the Northeast and sixth in the country for total points earned, qualifying them for the national competition:

• Owen Brooks
• George Carr
• Tommy Caviness
• Andrea Cordulack
• Matt Greco
• Katelyn Laureano-Rikardsen
• Mia Luciani
• Bennett Schindelman
• Caleb You

The following seventh graders earned first place in the Northeast and fifth in the country for overall points in the qualifying competition:

• Emma Argenio
• Frank Bear
• Grady Connell
• Ronan Connell
• Tyler Denison
• Tallulah Lintern
• Arush Rao
• Lucas Tan
• Kristina Yosypiv
• Tomas Zaleski

Each of the two teams had to split into two separate teams to compete, according to the organization's rules. The competition took place May 31-June 2.