Gastonia, N.C. – Woodhill Elementary won the first annual Are You Smarter Than A Gaston County Fifth Grader competition held February 10 at Forestview High School. Woodhill shared the championship trophy with its business partner, BB&T, which helped the students to win the challenging contest.
The Gaston County Education Foundation sponsored the event and raised $12,000 to fund the Ron L. Ensley mini-grants. The mini-grants are awarded each year to GCS teachers to enhance classroom learning and support academic programs.
The championship round was suspenseful and extremely difficult as the Woodhill team faced Lingerfeldt Elementary. Woodhill correctly answered the final question – What continent is Lebanon on? – to win the competition. (The answer is Asia.)
Jim Cookson was master of ceremonies for the exciting program that partnered each of the 12 schools with a corporate sponsor. The school teams and business leaders participated in a series of question-and-answer rounds to determine the finalists.
“We are extremely proud to be given the opportunity to participate in the Are You Smarter Than A Gaston County Fifth Grader competition,” said Jacob Barr, Woodhill principal. “We are also thrilled that staff members from BB&T were gracious enough to partner with us during the event. This program was an awesome experience for all participating schools, and Woodhill is honored to represent Gaston County Schools as the first winner.”
Woodhill was not the only school to claim a trophy. Bessemer City Central Elementary and its corporate sponsor, Hunter Douglas, won the spirit award, which was given to the team that showed the most character and energy during the competition.
The contest featured the following schools and sponsors:
- Beam Intermediate and Beam Construction
- W.A. Bess Elementary and Sun Drop
- Bessemer City Central Elementary and Hunter Douglas
- Brookside Elementary and Southern Eye Associates
- Gardner Park Elementary and Tindol Ford-Lincoln-Subaru
- Hawks Nest Intermediate and the Community Foundation of Gaston County
- Lingerfeldt Elementary and Leadership Gaston
- Lowell Elementary and PSNC Energy
- McAdenville Elementary and Pharr Yarns
- Rankin Elementary and American & Efird
- Sherwood Elementary and Allen Tate Realtors
- Woodhill Elementary and BB&T
The Are You Smarter Than A Gaston County Fifth Grader competition will air on the Gaston County Schools Education Station Channel 21 the weekend of February 25-27. Broadcast times will be posted on Channel 21.
To view a slideshow of the event, click here.
Bessemer City Central celebrates winning the spirit award.