Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819
For immediate release — Jan. 30, 2013
Elementary school (4th and 5th grades) division winners: St. Philips School and Community Center/Team E (all from Dallas) – (left to right) Jaali Hawkins, 4th grade; Timothy Peterson II, 4th grade; Malcolm Herod, 5th grade; and Kevin Crawford, team coach.
(DALLAS) — No mind was left behind during the Dallas County Community College District's 2013 African American Male Academic Bowl — aptly titled "Aiming for the Stars." In this elementary/middle school "battle of the brains," 37 teams competed in an event that is a cross between the academic bowls of 40 years ago and today's popular "Jeopardy" show. A record number of students from 29 schools throughout Texas participated in the bowl, which was held at the University of North Texas at Dallas on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.
Winning teams include members from Dallas, Irving, Lancaster and Fort Worth.
“We hit record numbers for participation again,” said David Robinson, the event’s organizer who works in DCCCD’s outreach office. “We welcomed 111 boys from Austin, Fort Worth, Frisco, Irving, Dallas, Red Oak and beyond who came with their team coaches and — in the name of academics — showed us all just how smart they are.”
The annual team-based competition of brain teasers and crowd pleasers is geared toward young African-American men in grades 4 through 8. After four years of competition, DCCCD's academic bowl has established a popular event with an excellent track record — a program in which no mind is left behind. "We've talked to the boys (who competed) and asked them what they've learned," added Robinson. "Almost every boy — 96 percent, in fact — has told us this event motivates them to learn more and finish school. That's what we set out to do."
Middle school (6th through 8th grades) division winners: Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at B.F. Darell School (7th-grade team) – (left to right) Kerry Shelton, teacher; Earl Potts Jr., Lancaster; Fernando Ojeda, Dallas; and Joshua Lathan, Dallas.
The two groups of teams — each comprising 4th- and 5th-graders or 6th through 8th graders — demonstrated their knowledge and skills by answering questions and scoring points in five categories: African-American history; science; mathematics; African-American "firsts"; and geography.
The winners were:
Elementary school (4th and 5th grades) division winners: St. Philips School and Community Center/Team E (all from Dallas) — Jaali Hawkins, 4th grade; Timothy Peterson II, 4th grade; Malcolm Herod, 5th grade; and Kevin Crawford, team coach.
Elementary school (4th and 5th grades) division runners-up: Disciplines In-Ongoing Preparation — Sean Jones, team coach; Maxwell Robinson, North Hills Prep School in Irving, 4th grade; and Andre Williams II, A.W. Brown School in Dallas, 4th grade.
Middle school (6th through 8th grades) division winners: Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at B.F. Darell School (7th-grade team) — Kerry Shelton, teacher; Earl Potts Jr., Lancaster; Fernando Ojeda, Dallas; and Joshua Lathan, Dallas.
Middle school (6th through 8th grades) division runners-up: Young Men’s Leadership Academy, Fort Worth (7th-grade team) — Michael Matthews, Kirk Preston, Jamal Bradshaw-Jones and team coach Tiffani Ruffin.
The day-long event kicked off with music performed by the Wilmer Hutchins High School Band. AT&T, with State Sen. Royce West’s office, contributed the first- and second-place prizes: Samsung Galaxy 2 tablets and Kindle Fires, respectively. The Dallas Mavericks provided a pair of tickets to the winning team coaches for an upcoming game at the American Airlines Center.
Sponsors included DCCCD, the University of Texas at Dallas, Project Still I Rise Inc., AT&T, State Sen. Royce West, Fort Worth Independent School District, McDonald’s, Moroch, Jackson State University, Dallas Independent School District, Tarrant County College, the University of North Texas at Dallas, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity’s Alpha Epsilon Boule Education Foundation and the National Society of Black Engineers.
For more information, contact Robinson at (214) 378-1728.
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