Think back to your knowledge of The Middle Ages. Was the wall surrounding the castle during that time known as the curtain, embrasure or the portcullis?
Omar Colunga, a fifth-grade student from Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary, and his teammates had just 10 seconds to record the answer during the exhibition Super Quiz of the Lone Star Challenge, the elementary equivalent to Academic Decathlon and Academic Pentathlon.
Students from 40 district schools in grades 4 through 6 recently participated in the Lone Star Challenge competition that allowed elementary students to enhance their STAAR mastery. Competition categories included language, social studies, math, and science.
Of the approximately 400 students to compete in the challenge, Omar walked away with the highest score, securing his spot as the top overall individual winner.
“It feels really great,” Omar said with a huge smile. “I just can’t express how happy I felt when they called out my name for that award.”
To prepare for the contest, Omar says he studied “every day and every night,” completing practice tests after school. And he didn’t stop there.
“Then I checked the questions I got wrong and found the answers in the study binder, and explained to myself why the answers were wrong,” he said. “Then I got them right.”
Coaches Ivonne Rojas and Felicia Marshall were as excited as Omar as they celebrated his achievement. Omar also placed first in the math and science and language and social studies categories and second in essay.
Schools garnering top prizes in The Lone Star Challenge Best Overall Team category:
- Esperanza “Hope” Medrano, 1st place
- Clinton P. Russell, 2nd place
- Harry Stone Montessori, 3rd place
Super Quiz winners:
- B.H. Macon Elementary, 1st place
- Victor H. Hexter Elementary, 2nd place
- Harry Stone Montessori, 2nd place
Just in case you didn’t know, during The Middle Ages, the wall surrounding the castle was known as a curtain.
