Local middle school academic teams competed in the 2019 District 11 Kentucky Association for Academic Competition Governor’s Cup last weekend. Daviess County, Burns, College View and Owensboro Middle School all competed, but OMS took home the district championship.
OMS’s academic team is coached by Joshua Sullivan, who is in his 11th year of the position.
“This was actually our fourth District Championship in the last five years,” Sullivan said. “We’ve most recently won the district championship in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. We are also very competitive at the regional and state levels. In 2018, we placed sixth overall at the state finals in Louisville.”
Over 21 OMS students participated in the competition, with three students tested in each subject area, some taking multiple tests and eight students compete on the quick recall team.
Sullivan said his students work hard all year for these competitions. Several of the students and coaches work during the summer months and then four hours of practice begins about two weeks after school starts back each August.
“Our quick recall team then practices and additional 1-2 times a week,” Sullivan said. “We scrimmage with each other and the kids get quizzed over new material at each practice.”
Academic team students focus on one or two preferred subject areas — math, science, social studies, language arts, or arts and humanities. Sullivan said the OMS coaches prepare new lessons, games, competitions and testing materials to help the students prepare for the KAAC Governor’s Cup curriculum.
“We’ve had about 40 students on the team this year — which is awesome. Forty students from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades staying after school to study more and learn more about their favorite subjects,” Sullivan said. “That’s my favorite part about coaching.”
Sullivan attended a planning meeting this week for the regional competition that includes teams from Daviess, Henderson, Grayson, Hancock, McLean, Ohio, Union and Webster Counties.
The regional competition begins Monday night with one student competing in the written composition competition and continues on Feb. 2, when OMS will travel to Grayson County for the testing sessions and quick recall tournament.
“At regionals, the top five students in each testing session and the top two teams in quick recall will advance to the state finals,” Sullivan said.
The state finals will take place March 16 to 18 at the Galt House in Louisville.
Sullivan is very excited that his team is very young this year and will lose only three of the competing students next year.
“We are mostly 6th and 7th graders this year, which bodes very well for the future,” Sullivan said. “I’m excited about this group, and I think we’ve laid the groundwork for many more successful seasons.”
Sullivan and his wife are both passionate about academic team. She not only coaches the academic team but also coaches the math team, which finished third in the state last year at MathCounts. She also coached three of the top 10 math students at the KAAC Governor’s Cup State finals in 2018.
Sullivan said they both love building relationships with the students and find it fulfilling.
“Not many teachers get to work with their kids for three to four years in a row. You get to know them really well,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been working with all of this year’s team since they were in the 5th grade, and they are awesome kids and fun to work with.”
Here is how OMS placed at the district Governor’s Cup competition:
Mathematics:
Jacob Ladwig – 2nd Place
David Daniel – 4th Place
Beckett Gilmore – 5th Place
Science:
David Daniel – 4th Place
Gunny Howard – 5th Place
Language Arts:
Mya Kelly – 1st Place
Georgia Calhoun – 4th Place
Written Composition:
Lauren Mitchell – 3rd Place
Arts & Humanities:
Beckett Gilmore – 1st Place
Lila Jones – 2nd Place
Georgia Calhoun – 3rd Place
Quick Recall — 1st Place — District Champions
Quick Recall Team Members: Olivia Wilkins (team captain), Beckett Gilmore, David Daniel, Mya Kelly, Landon Block, Brady Benjamin, Lila Jones, & Elizabeth Allen
Other OMS Academic Team coaches:
