"I am proud to announce that Carmel placed second in Academic Challenge Sectionals as a team and is headed to the state competition," said team moderator Ms. Suzanne Huntemann. "The students took time out of their busy days to compete virtually. Competition in our region is always very high so this was quite an accomplishment."
This is the second time since Carmel began competing in the Academic Challenge that the team has qualified for state and the first time Carmel finished second in sectionals.
Bruce Pan '21– 1st in Physics and 1st in Mathematics
Will DeKeyser '21 – 1st in Engineering Graphics
Emily Hoffman '21 – 3rd in Engineering Graphics
Sullivan Kuhfahl '21– 1st in Computer Science
The 14-member team includes Ainsley Dean '20, Viola Zhao '21, Bruce Pan '21, Victoria Nagode '22, Will Dekeyser '21, Emily Hoffman '21, Jen Bukowski '22, Ezzie Posner '20, Michaela Miller '21, Ashley Phoenix '21, Andréa Jané '21, Sabrina Panlaqui '20, Anna Nagode '22 and Sullivan Kuhfahl '21.
The Academic Challenge in Engineering and Science (ACES), formerly known as WYSE, is a STEM competition that challenges students with college-level math and science tests and is sponsored by Eastern Illinois University.
The competition offers tests in the subject areas of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics, and physics. Tests are designed to present a challenge to the brightest high school students and are presented in a multiple-choice format.
Students have 40 minutes to complete tests that range in length from 30 questions (computer science and math) to 80 questions (English).
The goal of the competition is to foster excellence in mathematics and science while attracting a greater number of talented and diverse students to careers in engineering and the sciences.