Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Among those who helped Fisher Middle School place third in the state are (top row, from left) Etan Green, Aron Silberstein, Meagan Lilliah, Valerie Winfield, MeggyWang and Elizabeth Loomer; (front row, from left) Mark Lubeck, Daniel Soloman, Courtney Hayashi and Aviva Aaron-Dine.

Fisher places third in state

By Shari Kaplan

A group of Fisher Middle School students scored 1,525 points out of a possible 2,000, which ranked them third place in the junior high school/middle school division in California and 55th nationwide in the Knowledge Master Open Academic competition, held Dec. 4.

The team of 14 students competed under the guidance of academic coach and media center specialist Judy Wiley, and co-captains Aviva Aaron-Dine and Meggy Wang. The mean score for middle school teams is 1,300, according to Knowledge Master statistics.

The annual event challenges junior high, middle and high school students throughout the country and from 15 countries around the world.

The competition consists of a single-use, timed computer program loaded with 200 multiple-choice questions. High school teams use the same categories but have more difficult or in-depth questions; questions may differ for students in other countries.

Questions were formulated from the following subject areas: American history, world history, government, recent events, economics and law, geography, literature, English, math, physical science, biology, earth science, health and psychology and fine arts. There were even two questions labeled "useless trivia."

The Fisher team consisted of Cidney Falk, Etan Green, Courtney Hayashi, Kyla Jemison, Meagan Lilliah, Elizabeth Loomer, Mark Lubeck, Karoon Monfared, Aron Silberstein, Daniel Solomon, Shirin Tang, Cherie Williams, Valerie Wingfield and Albert Wu.

The team had two chances to answer each question. If they gave a correct answer on the first try, they earned five points, along with bonus points if they answered within five seconds. If they were incorrect and guessed again, they received two points.

One student worked the computer at any given time, Wiley explained, while the others gathered round, consulting among themselves or offering advice when questions popped up in subjects they knew were their strong points.

"They felt really proud of themselves. They enjoyed the opportunity to have that kind of challenge. It's a little bit of pressure too. I didn't put it on them; they put it on themselves," Wiley said. "The students displayed an intellectual keenness that was thrilling to witness. A high level of expertise was demonstrated as students responded with both poise and group effort; it was truly a team effort."

The next annual Knowledge Master Open is scheduled for April 16, 1997.