Academic Team

Coach- Jacob Potter

JCMS Academic Challenge Team 

Practices: 

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:45 am- 8:40 am in room 310

Match Schedule:

Date/Time:	Opponent	Location
Oct 11, 2021 ~ 4:30pm	Home vs. Beaumont	JCMS Library
Oct 18, 2021 ~ 4:30pm	Home vs. BSMS	JCMS Library
Oct 25, 2021 ~ 4:30 pm	Away vs. Southern	Southern Middle School (directions)
Nov 1, 2021  ~ 4:30 pm	Home vs. LTMS	JCMS Library
Nov 8, 2021 (No match)	BYE	BYE
Nov 15, 2021 ~ 4:30 pm	Away vs SPPS	SPPS (directions)
Nov 29, 2021 (No match)	BYE	BYE
Dec 6, 2021 ~ 4:30 pm	Home vs. TCMS	JCMS Library
Jan 11, 2021 ~ 4:30pm	District Governor’s Cup Composition	TBD
Jan 15, 2021 ~ 7:30 am	District Governor’s Cup written assessments/ quick recall	TBD

Parents and Guardians:

You are the foundation on which we build our learning environment. We appreciate you and welcome you to take an active role in our program of academic competition.

We know that the key to successfully educating our children is to motivate them to do well in school. Academic competition helps provide that motivation for students to do well both in the classroom and in independent learning. We solicit your help in providing refreshments and transportation, and donating or raising money for shirts, awards, supplies and field trips. We encourage you to work with your child at home so that he or she is prepared when coming to practice.

Thank you for supporting academic success at JCMS and we hope to see your student! Please read below the details of each Academic Team. 

Governor’s Cup (6th - 8th grade) 

This program emphasizes the use of teamwork; higher-level thinking skills; creative and critical problem-solving skills; procurement of factual knowledge; and independent learning. Elementary academic competition involves, but is not limited to, district scrimmages, quick recall; and the KAAC District and Regional Governor’s Cup Academic Competition. The competitions are coordinated by the Kentucky Association for Academic Competition (KAAC). For schedules, scores, and info, visit them online at: http://www.kaac.com/governors-cup/.

One purpose of quick recall (and other academic competitions) is to deliver a message to our students - the message that our society values academic achievement and intellectual ability as much as it values athletic ability and achievement. Students are encouraged to try out for the academic team (typically first of September), just as they would an athletic team. There are several types of competition and all participating students are members of the team. All members of the team are winners when the “team” wins. These students will learn and use the rules set forth and agreed upon by all of the elementary schools involved in the competition.

WHAT IS IT?

Governor’s Cup is an organized academic competition sponsored by the KAAC for elementary, middle, and high school students in the state of Kentucky. There are eight events including six individual written assessments (multiple choice tests or essay writing) and two team activities.

• Language Arts Test (Multiple Choice Test – Individual)
• Science Test (Multiple Choice Test – Individual)
• Social Studies Test (Multiple Choice Test – Individual)
• Mathematics Test (Multiple Choice Test – Individual)
• Fine Arts/Humanities Test (Multiple Choice Test – Individual)
• Written Composition (Essay Writing – Individual)
• Future Problem Solving Team (Writing/Problem Solving – Team)
• Quick Recall Team (Jeopardy Style – Team)

Quick Recall

Quick recall is a game similar to TV's "Jeopardy" in that students use buzzers to ring in and answer questions. However, the rules are somewhat different. For instance, in quick recall, students play as a team. It helps students learn “fact knowledge” in a fun and challenging way and promotes learning both in the classroom and in independent study. It requires thinking on your feet, a skill necessary in a fast-paced world.

Quick recall helps students solve math problems quickly and efficiently. It helps them learn and define terms, label and match facts, and organize information sequentially and quickly when they have to make critical decisions. It promotes awareness of scientific data and gives students a better understanding of self and the physical world. Quick recall fosters knowledge of history, economics, geography and current events. It also helps students develop a greater appreciation for literature, fine arts, and their cultural and historical heritage.

In addition to helping students learn facts, quick recall helps students develop the ability to articulate knowledge; work in groups; improve listening skills; and develop poise and self-confidence.

Students are challenged to explore new material and investigate learning beyond the classroom, both as individuals, and as members of an academic team. Quick recall is a timed, team game with four students competing against another team of four students by responding to short-answer questions in social studies, mathematics, language arts, science, and fine arts/humanities. It promotes the learning of facts and is one of the team events of the academic competition program.

To view quick recall rules, go to the KAAC website. You can choose to volunteer to help at quick recall practices as well. There are training sessions to learn the quick recall rules given early in the school year that you may attend if you would like to assist the coach. Those dates and times are also listed on the KAAC website.

Written Assessments

Another portion of the Governor's Cup is the written assessment test in math, science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts/humanities. These are challenging multiple-choice tests that students prepare for throughout the quick recall season. It is an honor for your child to be selected as one of the three students to represent his/her school in a given subject area. These tests are scored, and the results are used to assign points to teams competing at Governor's Cup competition. Study materials are available in each discipline. Students from each school also participate in composition writing.

Academic Challenge (6th - 8th Middle Grades) 

The goal of the Academic Challenge Program is to create an academic culture in Fayette County for all students, which encourages parent involvement, is viewed just as important as sports, allows all students to compete in rigorous competitions with their peers, and culminates with college scholarships to Governor’s Cup Competition winners and individual participants based on a writing piece or written assessments (Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Arts and Humanities). 

The Academic Team is open to all students in the middle grades (6th -8th) who attend the Fayette County Public Schools and want to participate in Academic Team practice sessions and the Academic Challenge competitions.

Parents who want their child to be a part of the JCMS Academic Team should fill out the registration form sent from Coach Jacob Potter, jacob.potter@fayette.kyschools.us, email coach for more information .  The Coach/Coordinator will coordinate the formation of the school teams from the students who apply by Oct 11, 2021

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Parental support is vital to the JCMS program of academic competition. How can YOU help make academic competition a positive experience for your child?

• Encourage good sportsmanship!
• Help your child study at home.
• Come to practices and scrimmages.
• Volunteer to act as a proctor for written testing.
• Volunteer to be a quick recall scorekeeper, judge, or moderator. (Some training is required for judges and moderators.)
• REMEMBER! The coaches are volunteers. They need your support and help.
• Remain SILENT during quick recall matches. The audience may not mouth answers to the questions in quick recall.
• Set priorities! Find out the dates and times for competition and practice and be sure that your child maintains good attendance. When conflicts occur, let the coach know ahead of time.
• Provide refreshments for competitions and practices.
• Help raise money for extra equipment and practice questions.
• Help make copies of material for study or practice.
• Work with students to do research for problem solving.
• This is a learning experience and should be treated as such, but have fun and encourage your student to have fun!

Thank you for supporting your school's academic competition program!