WHAT IS (OR ARE) SCHOLASTIC GAMES?
The Scholastic Games high school quiz is a radio program presented weekly from January to May each year. The series was established in 1990 as a competition between students at the various high schools in Lorain county, Ohio, just west of Cleveland. It was a “spinoff” of a Cleveland program that program producer Jim Mehrling had hosted since 1984. Established in collaboration with Nordson Corporation, the original corporate sponsor, the Community Foundation of Lorain County, and area school districts, the program has flourished with continued support from area foundations and educational funds, notably the Nordson Corporation Foundation, the Nord Family Foundation, the Stocker Foundation, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and numerous educational funds administered by the Community Foundation of Lorain County. Mr. Mehrling produces the program with a professional staff under the auspices of the Community West Foundation, which administers funding.
WHY A PODCAST?
The program is interesting and entertaining, with an element of suspense as two teams of students compete on each show. Although it is a competition between local high schools, the quiz consists of general academic content and current events, the vast majority of which would familiar even to a worldwide audience. Of course the competition itself is of particular interest to the listeners of WEOL in Elyria, Ohio (AM 930), which from the beginning has offered the weekly program as part of its menu of local news, sports and public affairs offerings.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE PROGRAM
Producers and underwriters believe that providing students with opportunities to showcase their talents and abilities should be a matter of routine rather than a “special” project, and we have successfully produced the show each year since 1990. Crises in education in recent years have focused attention on maintaining minimal standards, but beacons must remain in place to show the way to the highest levels of achievement.
A quiz program provides a highly visible public arena for students who demonstrate exceptional ability in the academic realm. At its best it extends recognition to these students comparable to athletic programs. Student participants develop poise and oral communication skills as they hone abilities to think, organize and analyze thoughts, and respond quickly.
The value of a high school quiz progam goes beyond the program itself, as its advancement serves to assist schools in setting an agenda in which high academic attainment is given priority. It is a tool for schools to spotlight academic excellence on a year-round basis, as recognition is awarded to the high school and participating students through news releases and public address announcements in addition to the actual radio broadcasts of the competition. For the underwriter or corporate sponsor it conveys the message, “We care about education,” repeatedly to an important target audience. It should be emphasized that though the radio show participants are high school students, the listeners are adults. Far beyond the small group of parents and grandparents, they are people interested in education and ideas, and for the local radio show, it is an audience built on the foundation of the appropriate radio station’s general adult audience.