Fifty Nifty United States Competition!

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Did you know that learning the states can be fun and sweet?  That’s right!  In Mr. Shields class, there is a competition called the “Sweet 16,” also known as Around the World.  “The Sweet 16 competition is a game to help the students learn the name and location of all 50 states,” says Mr. Shields.  Mr. Shields says that this is how it works: “Two students stand up next to each other and I point at one of the states on a map and they yell out the name of the state as fast as they can.  Whoever says it first is the winner and they move on to the next person. We go through the whole class and whoever wins the most is the winner.  Then I took the fastest in each class and put them into the Sweet 16 for all my classes. Then during Quest Time we had a best of seven competition with those 16 students until we had a grand champion.”  The grand champion ended up being Kaden Paxton, with Grace Moffitt in second place.

Kaden Paxton, the first place winner, says that his favorite part about the competition is how fun and competitive it is.  According to Isaac Harding, one of 16 competitors, everyone was really good so it made the competition very challenging.  Grace Moffitt, the second place winner, said, “It was very fast paced.”  Both Kaden and Isaac said that the competition is super fun because it helps you learn the states and you can get rewarded for it.  Mr. Shields says that his favorite part of the competition is seeing how fast everyone is.  He says “They are incredibly fast and it just amazes me. It is fun to watch. I also think it is cool how hard they try and practice to get faster.”

Mr. Shields said that he does the competition because it makes  “learning more fun and as a way to help learn the states.  Usually when people are competing they try harder.”  According to Isaac, he always felt the risk of losing during the competition.  Grace Moffitt said she was “very happy about getting second place.”  Mr. Shields also says that hopefully the Sweet 16 helps the students learn the states but have fun doing it.  He also “hopes it motivates them more.”  Grace says that she likes the competition because it encourages kids to practice the states.

Great job to all the students who made it onto the Sweet 16: Grace Moffitt, Marsha Woods, Alexi Love, Angela Lopez, Isabelle Bagley, Isaac Harding, Raquel Marquez, Preston  Roberts, Kaden Paxton, Molly Hunter, Sydnie Nilsson, Jenny Wallentine, Addisyn Johnson, Jackson Brooks, Tony Agustin, and Bethany Blakey!


 

Attributions
Article by Kelby Jeppson