April 20, 2016

 News…

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) will hold its seventh annual State History Bowl Championship on Tuesday, April 26 at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. Twenty-four teams of eighth graders from 17 schools in 13 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, Aly Goodwin Gregg, chief marketing officer of MVB Banking, Sesquicentennial Commission member Larry Swann, Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, Deputy Commissioner Caryn S. Gresham and several other staff members of the WVDCH will preside over the sessions.

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

The Archives and History staff developed more than 2,000 questions for its online Quick Quizzes. Teams preparing for the tournament 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:
Belington Middle School                                              Belington, Barbour County
Cameron High School (2 teams)                                 Cameron, Marshall County
East Hardy Early/Middle School                                Baker, Hardy County
Fairview Middle School                                               Fairview, Marion County
Frankfort Middle School                                              Ridgeley, Mineral County
Independence Middle School                                     Sophia, Raleigh County
Jackson Middle School (2 teams)                                Vienna, Wood County
Keyser Middle School                                                  Keyser, Mineral Couny
Moorefield Middle School                                           Moorefield, Hardy County
Mountaineer Middle School                                        Morgantown, Monongalia County
Shady Spring Middle School (2 teams)                     Shady Spring, Raleigh County
Sissonville Middle School (2 teams)                          Sissonville, Kanawha County
South Middle School (2 teams)                                   Morgantown, Monongalia County
St. Joseph the Worker School                                      Weirton, Hancock County
Summersville Middle School (2 teams)                    Summersville, Nicholas County
Taylor County Middle School                                     Grafton, Taylor County
Wayne Middle School (2 teams)                                 Wayne, Wayne County

For more information, contact Matt McGrew, tournament director and education coordinator for Archives and History, 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.

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