Blue Mountain High School moved into the semifinals of Friday’s Pennsylvania Academic Competition in Harrisburg.
Blue Mountain students earned a chance to compete at the state level by claiming first place March 18 at the 24th annual Schuylkill County Academic Competition held at Penn State Schuylkill campus and sponsored by Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29.
Steve Zimmerman, Blue Mountain High School social studies teacher and gifted coordinator, serves as team coach. Among the Eagles’ teammates are Micah Boyer, Matthew Blair, Travis Barrow, Andrew Chawluk, Quentin Jurista, Dan Kelley, Alex Snitzer and Dillon Wertman.
Now in its 25th year, approximately 24 intermediate units were scheduled to participate in the 2016 event. The Pennsylvania Academic Competition is hosted by state Rep. John A. Lawrence and coordinated by the Chester County Intermediate Unit. The Pennsylvania State Education Association sponsors the competition and underwrites the scholarships for the finalists and champions.
Each of the intermediate units in Pennsylvania is permitted to send one high school academic team to participate. The championship team was scheduled to receive a $2,000 scholarship for their high school and finalists will each receive $500 for their school.
Final results were not posted on the competition website as of press time.