Unionville High School topped 23 other schools in Chester County in the Chester County Academic Competition. The win brings in $2,000 and the academic team will now represent the county in at the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition in Harrisburg on Friday, May 2.
Unionville Academic Team Coach Kevin Long spoke highly of the students’ achievement. “These students bring a vast amount of knowledge to the competition. They’re friendly; they stay calm; they work hard,” said Long. “We were down by a lot of points, and they didn’t let that rattle them. They dug in and put themselves in a position to come away with that last question.”
He explained the procedure for the competition in a follow-up email.
“There are 24 schools in Chester County that participate. Each school has a Varsity team and a Junior Varsity Team. The format of the competition is like a traditional ‘quiz bowl’; testing student knowledge on a wide range of academic topics [such as] math, science, history, geography, literature, fine arts, current events, [and] pop culture.”
He went on to say that a match involves three teams — from three different schools — and that there are three rounds. For each round, the team selects four students to be on stage.
“In the first part of the round,’ Long said, “students are asked 12 tossup questions in which any individual on stage can ring in to answer. In the second part of the round, all teams are asked the same series of six questions; students on stage can briefly confer to decide on their answer which they write on a whiteboard and present to the judges at the same time. Whichever team has the most points after three rounds is the winner of the match.”
The whole competition takes months to play out. There are four preliminary matches during a four-month period from October through January. The top three teams from those preliminary rounds meet for the final round in March, which the students from UHS won.
A press release said that in the varsity match, the team from Unionville came back from 30 points down to win by five against Downingtown STEM Academy and West Chester East High School. UHS won by breaking a 125-point tie with Downingtown.
“It was a bit of a rollercoaster,” said Unionville student Katherine Connolly in a press release. “Going in, I really wanted to do the best that I know I could do. We were down by quite a few points, but I was trying to focus on what I know and apply it in the moment.”
Unionville student Anand Shah — voted the team's MVP for the year — was asked how the school supported the team.
“I think our school does a fantastic job of exposing us to so many different subjects,” Shah said. “So much of what I have learned are these seemingly small facts in textbooks, such as captions or a random vocabulary word… those are the things that come up in the academic competition.”
The competition is run by the Chester County Intermediate Unit. Jay Della Ragione, special events coordinator for the CCIU.
“The Chester County Academic Competition is more than a contest; it’s a celebration of knowledge, teamwork, and intellectual curiosity,” he said. “These students demonstrate that learning extends far beyond traditional classroom walls and each year they show remarkable growth, critical thinking, and a genuine passion for learning that truly sets our county's students apart.”
As county champions, the varsity team from Unionville High School won a $2,000 scholarship, which was underwritten by FMFCU. Downingtown STEM Academy was awarded a $1,000 scholarship and West Chester East High School won a $500 scholarship. To learn more about the Chester County Academic Competition, which has been proudly sponsored by FMFCU for over 16 years, please visit www.cciu.org/academic-competition.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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