Mehlville District Students Compete in Academic Olympics

About 150 students stretched their minds in the Mehlville School District Academic Olympics on Saturday. The friendly competition allowed students from fourth to eighth grade to vie for awards in a number of events that showcased their academic abilities.

The event was moderated by retired Mehlville district educators and is held annually in the winter. The students look forward to the competition, often preparing months in advance.

“We practice after school every couple of weeks to prepare. For the students in the math competition, we meet more often—sometimes even several times a week,” said Heather Muessig, a STRETCH teacher for Oakville Middle School. Muessig had about 30 of her students participating in the Academic Olympics this year.

The fourth and fifth grade elementary school students kicked off the competition in the morning, followed by the middle school students in the afternoon. All students were divided by grade and allowed to compete in the following categories: Math, Spelling, Storytelling (Oratory for middle school students) and the Scholar Quiz. Middle school students could also compete in a writing event. While the math and writing competitions were closed to spectators, family and friends who came to support the students were able to cheer them on during the Scholar Quiz, Storytelling/Oratory and Spelling competitions.

The fast-paced Scholar Quiz pitted  four-member teams against each other in an elimination-style competition. Each school had several teams and the teams who answered the most questions correctly in each timed round advanced to the next level. The question categories were: Social Studies, Current Events, Spelling, Mathematics, Science, Health, Communication Arts, General and Trivia. In the end, only one team was left standing and declared the winner. Point Elementary won the elementary school competition, while Oakville Middle School won their level.   

The competition was also fierce for seventh-grader Jack Brendel, who has placed first in the spelling competition for the past three years. Brendel's mother, Ann, helps him memorize the words each year.

“We review the words to see which ones he doesn't know. Then we study in rounds, only going over the words he isn't sure of. We try to do this at least every other night a couple weeks before the event,” Ann Brendel said.

However, this year, he misspelled the word “myriad,” and was awarded second place.“It was harder because there were some words I've never seen before. Next year though, I'll be back in first place,” Jack Brendel said.

At the end of the day, the students who placed first, second, and third in each category were awarded medals and got to stand on an Olympic-style podium. For the elementary competition, Hagemann and Blades tied for most medals, with four apiece. 

The stringent preparation and hours of competition culminated with many cheers and smiles from the students during the award ceremony.

“The Academic Olympics help them shine academically. We always recognize students athletically, so this gives them a chance to be recognized for something else,” Muessig said.