CCHS scholastic scrimmage on TV

From left, Matt Melott, Cassie Pearsall, Grant Vassallo and Meredith Caldwell represented CCHS against East Juniata in a recent taping of the WPSU's Scholastic Scrimmage. The competition will be aired next Saturday at 6 pm on channel 3 locally. Photo Courtesty of Jen Olivett

On Jan. 30, four Cameron County High School students in the gifted program competed in the Scholastic Scrimmage in State College.

Grant Vassallo, Cassie Pearsall, Matt Melott and Meredith Caldwell took on East Juniata High School in a competition that will be aired on PBS/WPSU (channel 3) on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 6 pm.

The Scholastic Scrimmage competition is a half-hour program aired Saturdays and Sundays at 6 pm and 6:30 pm on PBS. During each match, fourperson teams answer questions as quickly and accurately as possible.

Questions are asked from a range of topics in the subjects of history, science and art. Teams are limited to students in seventh and eighth grades only.

CCHS students won their match (100-85) but were unable to reach the 200 point mark necessary for advancing to the next round. Only 16 from of the 84 competing schools in in the state will compete in the final round.

CCHS students were coached by Jen Olivett.

Olivett said that throughout the taping she overheard her students express their feelings. They quickly learned how difficult it can be to be put on the spot.

"A common phrase that I heard when we were filming was 'I should have answered that one, I was thinking that was the right answer,'" said Olivett. "They said that a lot of the answers were on the tips of their tongues, but they couldn't get them out correctly in time."

Many of the questions, the students said, were on topics they had already learned about, but yet they were unable to come up with the answers under the pressure.

"A lot of the students said that (history teacher) Mr. Glosek would have done well," Olivett explained. "They also said that he would have been upset that they didn't answer some of the questions correctly."

The students didn't prepare for the event, per se. They went with what they have learned in the classroom. They later discovered that there is a website designed to help students prepare for the competition. Olivett said the students will compete again next year.