Each year eight school districts gather for the annual Academic Challenge Eighth (ACE) competition. The ACE teams are comprised of 8th grade students from Catasauqua, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, Palmerton and Panther Valley. This year, Palmerton Jr. High walked away with the first place trophy.

Each match consists of three rounds of questions. The entire competition is based on knowledge of American history, world history, geography, physical science, earth science, biology, literature, grammar, math and general questions in art, music, and health.Students are asked questions, such as "Each U.S. Congress has how many regular sessions?" "What kind of bird acts like an airfoil?" "What is missing from this sentence, 'A rolling stone is worth two in a bush.'" "What is the largest of the earth's biomes?" "In what novel is young Mary Lenox orphaned and has to move to England to live with her uncle, Lord Cravin?" "What is the smallest integer that divides 109 with a remainder of 4?" "What percentage of $5 is 50 cents?"Well, how did you do?ACE is a double elimination competition. On Monday, Feb. 27, all teams advanced to the second day of competition held on Feb. 29. On the second day, Lehighton graciously accepted the 4th place trophy, while unfortunately Panther Valley, Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua and Catasauqua were eliminated.The finals were held on March 6. Palmerton was the only undefeated team going into the evening.Northern Lehigh and Northwestern Lehigh played the first round of the evening. They made it interesting as they ended the game in a tie, 29-29. The tie breaker was brought into play. The first team to get three questions were to play the final match against Palmerton. The moment was intense and Northwestern Lehigh pulled off the win, leaving Northern Lehigh as the 3rd place winners.Now it was time for the 14th round of competition between Palmerton and Northwestern Lehigh. It proved to be a fascinating match as both teams went back and forth for the lead. In the end, as the audience sighed, Palmerton's team captain, Gavin Scott buzzed in to answer the last question before time expired. With his correct answer, this match ended in a tie, too, 39-39.Once again, the teams had to enter into a nail-biting tie-breaker. As the teams volleyed back and forth, it was Gavin Scott, who game up with the winning answer bringing Palmerton to the first place win in the 23rd ACE Team competition, and Northwestern proudly brought home the 2nd place trophy.Mr. Thad Kosciolek, principal of Palmerton Jr. High, was one of the original individuals to start the ACE competition 23 years ago. He attended the finals to see his Palmerton team take the win for the first time in ACE history.This year's ACE team members were: Captain Gavin Scott; Brock Moyer; Brynn Boehler; Cowan Unger; Sal Melo; Tyler King."We had a great team and we were confident," says ACE captain Gavin Scott."This competition was definitely a team effort. If one person wouldn't have answered one of the questions that we got right, we might not have won. There were a lot of good teams, but with the practice we did, we happened to pull through and win," says Brock Moyer."It felt great to win and to know we had done something that nobody in our school had done before. It meant a lot. We couldn't help but to feel proud of this accomplishment," says Brynn Boehler."There is no greater evidence of intellect then to be surprised at nothing," quotes Cowan Unger of the win."When one of us were by ourselves we are not the best, but together we made an unbeatable team," says Sal Melo."I feel that even though we didn't lose, it was a difficult road to victory," says Tyler King.Advisor, Patti Jo Boyd says, "My team of students had four outstanding gifts to help them gain success; a plethora of knowledge; they worked well as a team; they were very focused; and they demonstrated unbelievable calmness. I believe these attributes led to their success. I am very proud of this team. Every day was a pleasure working with these individuals. They were enthusiastic, and that enthusiasm was contagious. I would like to thank the parents for their dedication and support through the many practices and their presence at the competition. Congratulations to all the teams."Boyd has been Palmerton Jr. High's ACE adviser for the last 11 years.