Wherein I brag about my kiddo...
We were up and out ridiculously early this morning, to fetch the kiddo from this year's Academic Games national tournament, which was held in Orlando. The New Orleans contingent took a chartered bus there and back, and the bus returned to Brother Martin just before 0600.
My son didn't go out on the bus, because the BMHS Jazz Band played their spring concert last Wednesday evening:
Mine's the bone player on the end. He got into Academic Games because both his brother and his old man (once upon a time) played the games. Dad lettered and did OK at the city level, but never won nationally. Big brother (who is now at Ga Tech) did very well in the games, and is now in the AGLOA Hall of Fame. Since little brother puts most of his emphasis and effort on band, nobody really had expectations that he'd follow in big brother's Academic Games footsteps. Imagine our surprise when he came home with this haul:
The New Orleans league competes in four games: On-Sets, Equations, Presidents, and Propaganda. That's two math, one Social Studies, and one Language Arts. Little brother and one other 8th grader from Brother Martin were on a team with a girl from Haynes and a boy from St. Charles Borromeo. (When enough kids qualify for nationals, they make single-school teams; when there aren't enough, they make teams from the league.) AGLOA's signature award is Rodin's "Thinker." The big trophies are for individual titles, the smaller ones for team wins. The colors are Bronze-Third, Silver-Second, Gold-First. Little brother's team placed third in Propaganda, Second in Equations, and he picked up an individual third in Propaganda. Additonally, he received one medal for a perfect score in the elimination rounds of Equations and another for top-ten in Presidents. The acrylic trophy is for placing in top-ten for sweepstakes, the overall championship for Middle Division.
Big brother is very proud of him, even though he's a bit jealous, since he came up empty-handed in his 8th grade year. Traditionally, Brother Martin is a bit weak in the Middle Division because many of the boys have never played the games before, and other kids have been playing since fifth grade. Still, little brother has a long way to catch up with the firstborn:
that haul of gold thinkers on top are his national championship trophies. They both make me proud!
Mine's the bone player on the end. He got into Academic Games because both his brother and his old man (once upon a time) played the games. Dad lettered and did OK at the city level, but never won nationally. Big brother (who is now at Ga Tech) did very well in the games, and is now in the AGLOA Hall of Fame. Since little brother puts most of his emphasis and effort on band, nobody really had expectations that he'd follow in big brother's Academic Games footsteps. Imagine our surprise when he came home with this haul:
The New Orleans league competes in four games: On-Sets, Equations, Presidents, and Propaganda. That's two math, one Social Studies, and one Language Arts. Little brother and one other 8th grader from Brother Martin were on a team with a girl from Haynes and a boy from St. Charles Borromeo. (When enough kids qualify for nationals, they make single-school teams; when there aren't enough, they make teams from the league.) AGLOA's signature award is Rodin's "Thinker." The big trophies are for individual titles, the smaller ones for team wins. The colors are Bronze-Third, Silver-Second, Gold-First. Little brother's team placed third in Propaganda, Second in Equations, and he picked up an individual third in Propaganda. Additonally, he received one medal for a perfect score in the elimination rounds of Equations and another for top-ten in Presidents. The acrylic trophy is for placing in top-ten for sweepstakes, the overall championship for Middle Division.
Big brother is very proud of him, even though he's a bit jealous, since he came up empty-handed in his 8th grade year. Traditionally, Brother Martin is a bit weak in the Middle Division because many of the boys have never played the games before, and other kids have been playing since fifth grade. Still, little brother has a long way to catch up with the firstborn:
that haul of gold thinkers on top are his national championship trophies. They both make me proud!
Congrats to Little Bro & Proud Papa!!
I have to love the "Thinker" trophy. And a category called "Propaganda?" What fun. Tell the young man "congratulations." As a former Math competition weenie, I understand how cool it was to get to go.