FRANKLIN KNOWLEDGE MASTER TEAM PLACES SIXTH IN STATE

A team of 21 students at Franklin Elementary School placed sixth in Missouri during the 11th Elementary Knowledge Master Open academic competition.

Some 24,000 fifth and sixth grade students at nearly 2,000 schools across the country and in several countries faced 100 questions on computer to vie for top scores based on the accuracy and speed of their answers.

The Franklin team scored 704 of a possible 1,000 points. Academic coach Mark Cook said the event was "fun and exciting -- our students performed better than ever."

The team includes Jordan Bingham, Josh Browning, Laura Crump, Derek Hale, Matt Komorech, Phillip Ordonia, David Wyatt, Andrew Bettag, Thomas Clayton, Drew DeCramer, Adam Kerr, Jean Maguire, Misty Perkuhn, Eric Wilke, Amanda Brown, Margaret Clark, Lillian Dean, Gabe Kinder, John Mitchell, Tim Slinkard and Dusty York.