The 36th annual Academic Challenge Eighth Competition, also known as the Kern Klassic, was held this week at the Lehighton Middle School. Competitions were held during the day Monday and Tuesday, and the final championship rounds were held Wednesday evening.

Eighth grade students from eight area school districts participate each year: Panther Valley, Lehighton, Tamaqua, Jim Thorpe, Palmerton, Catasaqua, Northern Lehigh and Northwestern Lehigh. After two days of contests, the three remaining teams, Northwestern Lehigh, Palmerton and Tamaqua, competed Wednesday evening for the first, second and third place trophies.

“Palmerton and Tamaqua compete first because they each had one loss,” Kokinda explained. “The winner of that game will go up against Northwestern Lehigh, who was undefeated. Because this is double elimination, if Northwestern Lehigh does not win that game, then one more game will need to be played.”

In the first competition, Tamaqua edged out Palmerton 48 to 47, getting their winning score just as the final buzzer sounded. Palmerton took the third place for the competition and received a trophy and plaques.

The second competition was between Tamaqua defeated Northwestern Lehigh 46 to 35. An additional competition was held by the same teams, and Tamaqua came out as the first place winner 37 to 29, with Northwestern Lehigh taking the second place spot. Each received a trophy and plaques.

“I was very honored to be asked to do it,” Kim Laird said of her second year serving as moderator. “I was a coach for more than ten years at Panther Valley. I enjoy working with the kids. And I’ve always been a trivia buff.”

The Academic Challenge Eighth Competition, also known as ACE, is a trivia-based competition. Sixth grade students have Sixth Sense and high school students have Scholastic Scrimmage. ACE is for eighth grade students.

Each game consists of three rounds, and involve questions about history, geography, English, science and math.

“We named it the ‘Kern Klassic’ after Janet Kern,” Lehighton adviser Terry Kokinda said. “She was a teacher at Northern Lehigh, and was an adviser for their ACE team, then she became the moderator. After her passing, we named it after her.”

The winners were:

First place: Tamaqua School District. The Tamaqua team members were Marlee Boyle, Makayla Elston, Justin Harakel, Mason Harakel, Aaron Kerlin and Parker Mills. The alternates were Aubriana Kleckner and Addyson Schock. Megan Frantz and Brittany Hill are the team advisers. Principal is Christopher Czapla.

Second Place: The Northwestern Lehigh School District. Team members were Adin Breidinger, Jaxton Cougle, Peter Gengaro, Alice Hoban, Cameron Kahl and Robyn Kutney. The alternates were Sonny Sansone and Kaylynn Knauss. Rich Kulp and Katherine Kraky were the advisers. The principals are Amy Wahl and William Dovico.

Third Place: The Palmerton School District. Team members were Lucas Beahn, Geovany Castillo Andrade, Alexander Delich, Jace Farkas, Harper Hahn and Matthew Jahelka. Alternates were Sophia Hedes and Emma Hirt. Sarah Smith and Melissa Hoffman were the advisers. David Sodl is the principal.