Academic Competition (WSFCS)

Academic Competition (more commonly called by students ACE, AC, or "A-Team") is a program sponsored by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District. Academic Competition features high school students from the 10 schools across the county in weekly competition. The program was first created in 1989 to promote a higher level of learning among students as well as provide a means of interaction between the different schools' intellectual elite. Mount Tabor High School won the inaugural competition in 1989, defeating regular season champion R.J. Reynolds High School in the tournament finals.

The rules of Academic Competition, which may seem complex at first, are quite simple to understand. Academic teams are made up of four members. A match consists of five rounds, each with of four sets of questions. The order of the rounds is always the same:

A set of questions begins with a toss-up. This question is read aloud by a designated mediator. If a student thinks that he or she knows the answer to the question, that student can buzz in and state their guess. If the answer is correct, they win five points and get the first directed question. If it is incorrect, and the student buzzed in after the moderator had finished reading the question, then the team is not penalized and the other team has a chance to guess. If neither team gets the answer, then the correct answer is read and a new toss-up question is given. A student can buzz in at any time, even before the moderator has finished reading the question. This is called an interruption. If the interruption is correct, the team earns five points as they would normally. However, if the interruption is incorrect, the team is deducted five points and the other team has a chance to guess.

After a toss-up has been correctly answered, the game moves into the directed phase. Here, students are asked specific questions with either two, three, four, or six parts. The students have thirty seconds to talk to each other before the team captain must give the team's answers. Points are awarded depending upon how many parts of the question were answered correctly. If all parts are correct, twelve points are given. Semi-correct responses are awarded points based on the number of parts. In a two-part question, each part is worth six points (6 + 6 = 12). In a three-part question, each part is worth four points (4 + 4 + 4 = 12). In a four-part question, each part is worth three points (3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12). In a six-part question, each part is worth two points (2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 12). If the team answers no part of the question correctly, no points are awarded. The correct answers for any/all missed parts are then read. Following this, the opposing team has a directed question of their own. The second question is often harder, yet similar in subject. For instance, if the first team was asked a four-part question asking who said four different quotes, the second team would also be asked a four-part question asking for the speakers of quotes, but their quotes might be more obscure. When the second team has finished, the set of questions is over. The process then repeats again with another toss-up question. After four of these sets of questions, the round is over. The match concludes at the end of the General Knowledge round. The winner of the match is the team with the higher total score, which includes the scores from all five rounds. If the teams tie, the match concludes with a "sudden death toss-up" in which the match is won by the first team to buzz in with the correct answer.

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