Scholastic Contest still passes the test after 50 years

Students from 52 high schools signed up for the contest, which is believed to be the oldest and largest of its kind in the High Plains region.

The person in charge of its planning credits the event’s success through the years to the many people involved in its planning and implementation.

“I’m fortunate to have been placed in charge of a committee that has such great people supporting it,” said Dr. James Wright, a CSC business professor who serves as Scholastic Committee chairman. “The faculty members are extremely eager and cooperative in administering the tests, and Kathy Mason and Laure Sinn do a great job in completing most of the organizational work.”

Mason and Sinn have been working on the contest for more than a decade. Mason, an office assistant for the vice president of enrollment management and student services, works out the logistics of the event and communicates with the schools during the registration process. Sinn, coordinator of student activities, encourages employees and students to line up scores of activities to keep the throng of high school students busy while not taking tests. She also heavily promotes the event.

On Friday, as the Student Center was abuzz with activity, students participated in an open mic session at the Lindeken Clock Tower, video games on a large projector screen, quiz games, and rides on a Humvee and a horse-drawn wagon. The students also were invited to see the college’s planetarium, geology museum, the football team’s practice and a round pen horsemanship demonstration.

An integral part of the behind-the-scenes work is completed by computer services staff. A data system maintained by Sam Williams, CSC webmaster, and Andrew Schmid, CSC programmer-analyst, ensures that test results are instantly posted to the Internet and broadcast to large screens to the Student Center.

No doubt, the technology has come a long way since the event’s beginning.

Con Marshall, CSC’s former director of information who handled media coverage of the event for about four decades, said the seed for the Scholastic Contest was planted by Ross Armstrong, longtime CSC coach, athletic director and dean of men. Armstrong had returned from a track meet in Kearney which coincided with the high school scholastic contest there.

“When he saw how many students it brought to the Kearney campus, he told the Chadron State president, Dr. Barton Kline, and it was decided that CSC should begin a scholastic contest,” Marshall said.

Dr. Eugene Hughes, a CSC math professor who later became president at the University of Northern Arizona and Wichita State University, was the first contest director.

CSC administrators called Hughes into a meeting to tell them about the success of Kearney’s contest and what a potential boon it was for the institution’s recruitment. At their urging, Hughes went to Kearney to learn all he could about the contest and left “very impressed.” Hughes said he returned to suggest that CSC start a contest for high schools in western Nebraska, considering that Kearney mostly dealt with schools in the central part of the state.

“They said, ‘Great, and since you know more about it than anyone else, we want you to get it organized and be its director,'” Hughes said. “Wow, it’s hard to imagine 50 years.”

CSC’s first contest in 1961, in which 29 tests were given, drew 850 students from 41 schools.

The highest number of entrants was 1992 with 2,643 in attendance. Near that time, space limitations prompted CSC to restrict the number of students a school can enter for each test. In addition, consolidation of many schools has decreased the number that attends.

This year’s number of participants was up 47 from last year’s total, drawing students from as far away as O’Neill, 248 miles from Chadron.

Some years have included every school in the Panhandle. Norris High at Firth, 12 miles from Lincoln and 425 miles from Chadron, participated from 1979 into the ‘80s. A number of Wyoming schools have traveled at least 300 miles for the contest.

The only hindrance to attendance in some years has been a late dose of winter weather, which was not a factor for the 50th. Mostly blue skies and 50-degree weather graced the campus Friday.

“We’re thankful the weather turned out nicely this year,” Wright said. “It makes things run a lot more smoothly.”

The event has provided high school students an opportunity to test their knowledge against a wide range of peers, regardless of school size.

“One thing that has always interested me is the fact that as you read the lists of medal winners, there are students who are from big, medium and small schools mentioned, often in the same test,” Marshall said. “I guess that proves that, at least in this area, you can get a good education at any size school.”

Most of the tests are completed by pen and paper, but CSC faculty members have not been afraid to toy with the format to enrich the experience for students.

This year featured the Eagle Cook-Off, which involved six teams of three preparing healthy meals the typical college student will eat. The meals were required to meet dietary and cost guidelines, and were prepared before a live, cheering audience with a limited number of appliances.

Several years of the past decade featured a high-mileage vehicle competition, in which industrial arts students constructed cars that were brought to campus to be put to the test.

While the campus is inundated with teenagers, CSC also schedules activities to keep its college students engaged during the day off classes. One method in recent years has been to entice them by keeping their hand on a vehicle for a large prize. This year, Stephanie Levi of Gillette, Wyo., topped about 50 other students to win a $500 gift card in that activity.

The CSC Residence Life Association coordinated a number of other activities Friday afternoon and night, including yard games, sand volleyball and a dance.