April 29, 2013

 News…

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will hold its fourth annual State History Bowl Championship on Tuesday, April 30, at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. Twenty-four teams of eighth graders from 20 schools in 16 counties will vie for the championship title. Activities begin with a general assembly at 9 a.m., followed by the first round of competition at 9:30 a.m.

Guest moderators, including Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Joseph Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary Kay Goodwin, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, Sesquicentennial Commission member Larry Swann and Del. Michael T. Ferro (D-Marshall), will preside over several sessions.

The double-elimination tournament includes lightning rounds and team rounds featuring questions about state and county history, culture, heritage and tourism prepared by the staff of the Division’s Archives and History section.

The Archives and History staff has developed more than 1,800 questions for its online Quick Quizzes. Teams preparing for the tournament were able to use the Archives and History Daily Trivia and Quick Quizzes as helpful tools from the Division’s website, www.wvculture.org/history.

Eighth graders in public, private and home-school education programs are eligible to compete on the four-person teams in double-elimination tournament play. The regional winners and runner-up teams from each district and the top eight teams from a play-in competition will compete in the tournament final.

The play-in competition was held to accommodate schools that were unable to compete in their regional round because of inclement weather and school closings. It also was open to all schools throughout the state that wanted to get a second chance in the History Bowl tournament.

Competitors include the following teams:

Moorefield Middle School (2 teams)              Moorefield, Hardy County
Taylor County Middle School                         Grafton, Taylor County
Ripley Middle School                                       Ripley, Jackson County
Green Bank Middle School                              Green Bank, Pocahontas County
Logan Middle School,                                       Logan, Logan County
Mountaineer Middle School                            Morgantown, Monongalia County
Richwood Middle School                                 Richwood, Nicholas County
Independence Middle School                          Sophia, Raleigh County
Frankfort Middle School                                   Ridgeley, Mineral County
Fairview Middle School (2 teams)                  Fairview, Marion County
Shady Spring Middle School (2 teams)          Shady Spring, Raleigh County
Cameron High School (2 teams)                      Cameron, Marshall County
Jackson Middle School                                      Vienna, Wood County
Edison Middle School                                       Parkersburg, Wood County
Ansted Middle School                                      Ansted, Fayette County
Summersville Middle School                          Summersville, Nicholas County
Andrew Jackson Middle School                      Cross Lanes, Kanawha County
Sissonville Middle School                                Sissonville, Kanawha County
Milton Middle School                                       Milton, Cabell County
Wayne Middle School                                       Wayne, Wayne County

For more information about the annual competition, contact Bryan Ward, assistant director of Archives and History for the Division and coordinator of the tournament, at (304) 558-0230.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Schedule for Moderators/Speakers

9:30 a.m. First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin
10 a.m. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Joseph Goodwin
10:30 a.m. Cabinet Secretary Kay Goodwin, Department of Education and the Arts
11:30 a.m. Secretary of State Natalie Tennant
1:15 Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin addresses a general assembly
1:30 p.m. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin
2 p.m. Sesquicentennial Commission member Larry Swann
Delegate Michael T. Ferro will moderate four matches between 9 a.m. and noon.

(You can view a live stream of the event here!)

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