For more than a decade the Naples Council on World Affairs has sponsored an Academic World Quest (AWQ) competition for public and independent high schools and middle schools in Collier County. The objective of both programs is to promote student awareness of world affairs and of the role of the United States in the international political system.

The 2019 High School Academic World Quest competition will be held at the Community School of Naples on Saturday, March 2. For information, Collier County high schools wishing to participate in the competition should contact Jim Schmotter, 2019 HSAWQ Chair, at schmotterj@wcsu.edu.

The 2019 Middle School Academic World Quest competition will be held at the Community School of Naples on Saturday, March 23rd. Contact the 2019 MSAWQ Chair, Rob Pendergrass, at robpender@gail.com for further information.

Last Year's Events

The 2018 Middle School AWQ took place on Saturday, March 24 at the Community School of Naples. The 130 students representing seven local Middle Schools answered ten questions each from the following categories:

1. World geography
2. Forms of world government
3. World capitals
4. American Civics
5. Ancient civilizations of the world
6. World Culture
7. US History, 1812-1860
8. The US in world affairs
9. World leaders
10. Current events from 2018

First place: Pine Ridge Middle School Team A

Second place: Oakridge Middle School Team A

Third place: Pine Ridge Middle School Team B

 

First place: Pine Ridge Middle Team A

Darshan Dadlani, Enis Ljikovic, Carson McMurry, Diego Michalup, Coach Lisa Carraher 

 

 

 Second place: Oakridge Middle School

Michael Cope, Zayn Dalao, Charles Jaikaran, Bharath Ram, Coach -Ashley Forrest

  Third Place: Pine Ridge Middle School. 

Chris Garcia, David Hintz, Robbie Hunter, Jack McElrath, Lisa Carraher- Coach

                                

1. NAFTA
   
2. ASEAN at 50
   
3. India's Bid for Global Power
   
4. Combatting Climate Change
   
5. Cybersecurity 
   
6. Saudi Arabia 
   
7. Great Decisions
   
8. The Peacebuilding Toolkit
   
9. America's Diplomats 
   
10. Current Events
    

27 teams from eight high schools participated in the competition. The winning teams were:

               First place: Gulf Coast High School

Connor Bligh, Kaitlyn Kugel, Michelle Stegawslai and Taylor Steiner. Their coach Sue Soulard.

               Second place: Barron Collier High School

Henri Avxhiv, Fernando Bonegas, Abhijith Neelamchalil and Corey Olmstead. The coach is John O’Brien.

               Third place: Naples High School

James Biasoni, Sai Rachumalla, Hisam Setyawan and Logan Szittai.  Their coach is Jason Gore. 

The 2nd and 3rd place teams received Barnes and Noble gift certificates and medals for academic excellence. The first place team will have their school’s name engraved on the trophy and will travel to Washington, D.C. in April 2018 to participate in the national Academic World Quest competition.

 

The following photos are from the 2018 High School AWQ.

 

1st Place Gulf Coast High School

Connor Bligh, Kaitlyn Kugel, Michelle Stegawslai and Taylor Steiner.

 

 

 

2nd Place Barron Collier High School

Coach O”Brien, Henri Avxhiv, Fernando Bonegas, Abhijith Neelamchalil and Corey Olmstead, Jan Guben (NCWA).

 

 

 

 

 

3rd Place Naples High School

Coach Gore, James Biasoni, Sai Rachumalla, Hisam Setyawan and Logan Szittai, Jan Guben (NCWA).