Written by Ken Galik, principal
Exciting scholastic material, friendly student competition, and a great family atmosphere are some of the components of the Portage Township Schools Annual Fifth Grade Great Quiz Out. Each year in February, students, teachers, and principals meet together to participate in the Quiz Out. The process begins with eight fifth-grade students chosen from each of the eight elementary schools. They are selected for participation by their teachers, using criteria such as social studies grades or sometimes even a "Quiz-Off" of their own.
One of the unique elements of this competition is the design of the teams. In a traditional contest, schools compete against each other. In a traditional contest, schools compete against each other. With the Quiz Out, each team is comprised of one student from each school, fostering a more collaborative atmosphere. Students meet their new team members for the first time upon entering Crisman Elementary School the nigh tof the Quiz Out. Each participant wears a white "Quiz Out" T-shirt, but with one of eight different colors used in the lettering.
The students gather in the cafeteria, where team captains and judges comprised of elementary principals and teachers, help sort the students as they form teams and decide upon a team name. All eight teams then move to the gymnasium, where they will find parents, relatives and friends waiting for the exciting evening to begin.
Once assembled, the master of ceremonies begins the competition with the Pledge of Allegiance and instructions for the night. There are eight sets of questions, worth a total of 400 points. Categories of questions include: geography, mapping, matching people and places, colonial history, early explorers, current events, and points of interest. The emcee begins each round of questions, and the students work as a team to complete their answers. Without giving away any answers, table captains offer motivation and encouragement as the students work together to answer the questions. At the end of each round the table judges grade the answers given by the students and report the team total on a flip chart positioned in front of their table. This process continues until all eight sets of questions are completed. As the evening progresses, the competition gets more exciting, with the crowd cheering as the judges update the scores.
At the competition's conclusion, first, second and third place winners are recognized with ribbons, while all students receive a certificate of participation. This upbeat event offers our students, their families, and friends an opportunity to share a memorable night together in an informal educational setting. An added bonus is that the challenging academic questions from the evening serve as an opportunity for family discussion after the event.
This is an educational competition that bonds students together for a lifetime memory. At the end of the night, everyone is a winner because they had fun, made new friends and established themselves as another historical member of the Portage Township Schools Great Social Studies Quiz Out. So far, more than 1,400 students have participated in this traditional event since 1989.
Who knows, this may be a question on next year's Quiz Out!