Union County Middle School’s academic team recently competed in the Indiana Academic Super Bowl, as they have since the contest’s beginnings in the mid 1990s.  Former UCMS Librarian Debbie Weaver coached the team for years, and hosted these contests at the middle school as well.  UCMS teacher Shannon Estep began helping prepare Weaver’s team for the Math competition in 2017, and has since taken over after Weaver’s retirement.  Estep and fellow teacher/coach Tonia Severance began at winter break to prepare this year’s academic team for the five rounds of competition in late April, during which teams answer 25 timed questions in multiple academic categories.  The outcome of this April’s competition?  

On Monday, UC Superintendent John Edge released the following statement, describing the event:  “This past Saturday, April 29, 2023, the Union County Middle School academic teams made their way to East Central Middle School in St. Leon for their local competition. At that meet, UCMS students competed against three other Class 3 schools as well as seven other area schools in Classes 1 and 4. While all of the teams did an amazing job, the UCMS Science Team, made up of 8th graders Lucas Welty and Isaac Widner and 6th grader Aiden Dannaker, took first place at the meet, first place in Class 3, and on Monday afternoon, their coaches Tonia Severance and Shannon Estep learned they were Class 3 State Champs for the Science competition state-wide. Other victories at the local level for Union County Middle School included the Interdisciplinary Team placing first, the Math team placing second, the Social Studies team placing third, and the Language Arts team tying for third prior to a tie-breaker, all against other Class 3 schools. UCMS Academic Team Members include 6th graders Aiden Dannaker and Bailey Peters; 7th grader Ayla Bartram; and 8th graders Campbell Meier, Lucas Welty, Samantha West, and Isaac Widner. Congratulations to these young men and women for their effort and outstanding showing at the East Central Meet.”  

The team’s commitment and effort paid off, after months of staying late after school to practice, review and study subject area content. Considering it is Teacher Appreciation Week, it is valuable to note such commitment from their teachers, as well. The two coaches split academic areas as they focused on questions and study materials provided by the ISPA, but these ladies were quick to give credit to the students:  “What’s incredible about our state-champion science team is that they take almost all the credit in their win. As we worked with social studies, ELA, and math, Tonia [Severance] gave them a time and place to study and access to the resources. Aside from that, they did all the work. They decided how to share the research responsibilities and mastered the content outlined for the competition. At the competition they scored 20/25,” Estep said.  “Coaches, teachers, and administrators couldn’t be more proud of our small, 7 member, academic team. And a special congratulations to the three boys for their achievement in the science category!”