16 JUNIOR-HIGH STUDENTS IN NATIONAL CURRENT-EVENTS TEST

Students at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School recently tested their knowledge of current events against eighth-graders from across the nation.

Sixteen students were chosen to compete in the Newsweek News Bowl this year. The students studied current events and read Newsweek magazines during January and February in order to answer 20 questions during the competition, which was computerized. Their scores were recorded and will be measured against other competitors.

"Part of our curriculum is the integration of current events with history and civics," said social studies teacher Becky Ritchie. "I think the students enjoyed applying what they learned in history to current events. They used their skills and applied the knowledge they learned from the newspapers and magazines to prepare to compete."

Ritchie said the students were chosen for the competition because of their interest in current events. She said they learned much more than just news because they all demonstrated strong work ethics and better study habits as a result of their participation.

"The more I let them out of class to read the newspapers and magazines, the more their grades went up," said Ritchie. "It forced a certain discipline to get their homework done, because they wanted to practice as a team."

Team member Andrea Hazlett agreed. "I definitely learned better study habits," she said. "Before, I couldn't really study, but afterwards studying was easier, and my grades got better."

Ritchie said the teams will get the test results and the team's ranking back in late April.

Members of the 1997 Central Junior High News Bowl Team were: Heather Hey, Sarah Brown, Ben Carter, Matt Lee, Shawn Pincsten, Sara Sprigg, Matt Dodd, Jared Holloway, Zac Fidler, Danille Milam, Dustin Wright, Andrea Hazlett, Bret McNabb, Annie Meagle, Sina Agnew and Jessica Laws.