Sandy Creek Academic Team places 10th in state

The Sandy Creek High Academic Team is one of the best in the state. Competing at the Georgia Regional Academic Bowl, the Patriot squad finished 10th overall.

The Sandy Creek Academic Team is Juan Smith, Alek Stec, Jared Newson, Chris Jones, Sydney Schulten, Charisma Harris, Tighler Allen, and Olivia Lohr, with coach Joy Bushong. Bushong was in her first year leading on the team, so she leaned heavily on captain Juan Smith for guidance and advice, and it paid off.

This year’s competition calendar was not without its challenges, but the Patriots persevered.

In the Griffin RESA Academic Bowl, each round was 100 questions squeezed into a 50-minute time limit, and it was hosted virtually due to the pandemic. Two team members competed virtually with the other six members together, so zoom was used to coordinate the squad. They finished in 3rd place, qualifying for the Georgia Regional Academic Bowl.

At the next level, on top of competing again with some team members not at the school, they had to play without one member due to baseball commitments, but they banded together and finished 10th overall. Sandy Creek finished ahead of county schools from McIntosh, Starr’s Mill, and Whitewater.