The Tennessee World Affairs Council will host the 2013 State Championship Match for Academic WorldQuest for high school students on February 23, 2013 at Belmont University. Today TN WAC is pleased to announce that through the generosity of an anonymous donor we are able to add a special prize at the competition for the 2nd place team — a Kindle Fire tablet for each of the four team members and their coach.  

As you know from earlier AWQ announcements the winning team and coach at the State Championships are sponsored on an expense paid trip to Washington, DC for the National Championship match.  This year it will be held Saturday, April 27, 2013.  During the four-day trip sponsored by TN WAC, in addition to the AWQ competition, the winning Tennessee team will be escorted to a variety of international affairs events, venues and meetings.  Past winning teams have visited: foreign embassies, US Senators and a Congressman from Tennessee, think tanks, the World Bank, international offices of US corporations, non-government organizations, the US State Department and other opportunities in addition to time for Washington sightseeing.  This year we are pleased to add a Kindle Fire tablet to each team member and team coach, as a second place prize to the Tennessee State championship.

You can find more information on the Tennessee Academic WorldQuest competition below and on the web site.  Now is the time to organize a team, review the competition materials and get ready for the February 23, 2013 Tennessee Championship match!

Join the Quest!

This year marks the 3rd Tennessee Academic WorldQuest competition and the 11th Annual competition among the network of World Affairs Councils of America. This year’s categories focus on the “Six Top National Security Issues” facing the President in 2013 as voted on by leaders of the World Affairs Councils across the country: US Education: Competing Globally; US Energy Policy; US Economic Competitiveness; the Middle East; Afghanistan/Pakistan; and China.

Also included are: UN Millennium Goals: Environmental Sustainability, as part of our yearly selection from the Millennium Goals leading up to 2015; Cuban Missile Crisis: 50th Anniversary; Geography; and Current Events, a yearly category.

All questions for both the Tennessee and national competitions are drawn from the Academic WorldQuest Study Guide.  We suggest you subscribe to the Tennessee World Affairs Council’s email newsletter lists for both “General Info” and for “WorldQuest Info.”  Just click on the “Subscribe” button on the web site.

Read more below about Academic WorldQuest and check these items for all the details you need to organize a team and to compete:

• 2013 Tennessee AWQ Program Information
• 2013 AWQ Study Guide (PDF)
• 2013 Competition Rules – How to Play
• 2013 National Competition Details
• AWQ Sample Questions from National Championship (PDF)
• AWQ Team Pledge Form (PDF)
• AWQ Announcement Flyer (PDF)

Academic WorldQuest

What is it?

Academic WorldQuest is the flagship youth education program of the Tennessee World Affairs Council and the national network of World Affairs Councils. It is a team game testing high school students’ knowledge of international affairs. In the game, four-person teams compete by answering multiple-choice and fill-in the blank questions divided into ten unique and engaging thematic categories. Academic WorldQuest is unique to the world affairs council system and has no direct competitor among K-12 knowledge-based competitions in the US or abroad.  The Tennessee World Affairs Council organizes an annual State Championship match hosted at Belmont University. The winning team advances to the National Championship hosted by the World Affairs Councils of America national office in Washington, DC with transportation and lodging provided by TN WAC.  [The TNWAC organizes WorldQuest for university students and for young professionals but a national competition is not available at these levels.]

History

Academic WorldQuest was created by the Charlotte Council and is now widely played at the adult and high school levels around the country. It is a team game testing competitors’ knowledge of international affairs, geography, history, and culture. The World Affairs Councils of America started the national competition in Washington, DC in March 2003. Participants come from high schools that work with the World Affairs Council network.

The Grand Prize

The first-place team of the Tennessee State WorldQuest Championship will travel to Washington D.C. to compete in the National Academic WorldQuest Competition. The trip is covered for the winning team and one teacher/chaperone by the Tennessee World Affairs Council.

This year’s National Competition will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2013. It is attended by more than 225 of the nation’s most promising students, along with their parents, teachers, and chaperones. The 3-hour competition is a unique opportunity for many students to visit the nation’s capital for the first time. There is a weekend of substantive programming to enhance the experience. Examples of past National Competition weekend activities include embassy receptions, speeches by ambassadors, discussions with experts on competition topics, and cultural activities.

Additional prizes for the Tennessee State Championship match will be announced.

Why Academic WorldQuest is Important

With funding for school programs other than “basics” falling away, the opportunities for high school students to learn geography, world history, and world affairs have dwindled to almost nothing in American high schools while globalization and interdependence continues to knit the world more closely together each passing day and year.

The Tennessee World Affairs Council does a lot to counter this trend already through its programs: distinguished visiting speakers; availability of global affairs curriculum units for high schools through our national network; the organizing of teachers’ workshops, and the sending abroad of teachers and students. We want to build on our already existing and successful programs that seek to reverse this disturbing trend regarding global affairs awareness education. Toward that end: Academic WorldQuest is a “Game with a Purpose.”

Program Structure

The competition is played between 4-person teams who answer rounds of multiple-choice and fill in the blank questions projected onto a screen. The questions test their knowledge of current affairs, world leaders, geography, recent history, flags, international organizations, countries, regions, the world economy, culture, religion, and more. A full competition is 100 questions, 10 rounds of 10 questions per round. The winning team is the team with the highest number of right answers.

Approximately 3000 students across the country participate in local competitions hosted by over 40 local World Affairs Councils in 26 states. Winning teams are invited to represent their high school and the Tennessee World Affairs Council at the national competition, held in the spring each year in Washington, DC. [April 27, 2013]

The national Academic WorldQuest competition is attended by more than 225 of the nation’s most promising students, along with their parents, teachers, and chaperones. The 3-hour competition is a unique opportunity for many students to visit the nation’s capital for the first time. There is a weekend of substantive programming to enhance the experience.

2012 Competition

The Tennessee World Affairs Council congratulates the 2012 Tennessee Academic WorldQuest Championship team from Montgomery-Bell Academy in Nashville:

• Jake Simons
• John Mellow
• McKay Proctor
• Will Stewart
• Teacher/Coach: Annie B. Williams

We congratulate all the teams that competed for the Tennessee State Championship title.

Cookeville High School, Cookeville, TN

• Colleen Ryan
• Varsha Srinivasan
• Will Gabelman
• Teacher/Coach: Connie Ryan

Hillsboro High School, Nashville, TN

• Thor Frantz
• Braxton Bakerfield
• Max Hackenbrack
• Isaac Saffold
• Teacher/Coach: Adrian Bahan

Martin Luther King, Jr., Magnet High School, Nashville, TN

• Catherine Caffey
• Joseph LaPosata
• Rohan Nag
• Guangze Zhang
• Teacher/Coach: Dr. Sue Gilmore

Stratford STEM Magnet High School, Nashville, TN

• Logan Campbell Smith
• Nikita Bhavsar
• Ivy Obeng
• Awes Hussein
• Teacher/Coach: James Taormina

Congratulations to the winners of the 10th annual (2012) Academic WorldQuest National Championship

The World Affairs Councils of America’s 10th Annual Academic WorldQuest National Competition was a great success! The weekend included a reception at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China where Ambassador Zhang Yesui gave his observations on the US-China relationship, a reception at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, and an exciting, down to the wire Academic WorldQuest National Competition complete with a sudden death tiebreaker round. Be sure to check out photos from the competition weekend on the World Affairs Councils of America Facebook page.

• First Place: Plano Senior High School – WAC of Dallas/Ft. Worth
• Second Place: Keystone School – WAC of San Antonio
• Third Place: Walpole High School – WorldBoston
• Fourth Place: Desert Christian Academy – World Affairs Council of the Desert

The inaugural Academic WorldQuest match (2009) in Tennessee was won by a team from Martin Luther King, Jr., Magnet High School, in Nashville.