Around 400 students from 11 middle schools across South Florida competed in Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s 2014 Spartan Academic Olympics in early December. The annual event celebrates the academic achievements of middle school students in multiple subject areas, such as English, Math, Foreign Languages, and Science.
Academic Olympians arrived at the Pace campus early to register and take their exams in Pace classrooms. Olympians were divided into seventh and eighth grade groups for each subject and assessed by Pace teachers. For most of the 11 subject categories, students were assessed based on written exams, with the exceptions of Art, Music, and Speech.
As students took their exams in classrooms, their parents were given a tour of the campus by current Pace students and staff. After the tests were completed, results were tallied by Pace and students filed back into the Spartan Center for the presentation of the individual and overall awards.
The first, second, and third place individual winners for each subject in both seventh and eighth grade were honored on-stage with a certificate presented to each of them by Pace principal Ana Garcia.
In the overall awards, Annunciation won first place in both the seventh and eighth grade Division 2A category. In the Division 2A category, St. John the Apostle Catholic School and Mother of Our Redeemer Catholic School won second and third place for seventh-graders while St. Bartholomew and St. John the Apostle won second and third place for eighth graders. For the Division 1A category, St. Rose of Lima School won first place for seventh graders and Immaculate Conception won first place for eighth graders.
MOR students Giovanna Pirruccio won first place in math, Melissa Alvarez placed third in Musical Vocal, and Andres Betancourt earned third place in Spanish. The school also earned the third place overall in the Small School category.
MOR middle school math and science teacher, Altagracia Ramos, was elated to see her students shine.
“It was a great feeling when they called out ‘first place in math goes to Mother of Our Redeemer’. This is what keeps me going, knowing that my hard work and dedication is enriching my students to grow in mind and spirit.”
Pace High School will be holding its Entrance Exam on January 24 at 8 a.m. For more information on enrollment, visit www.pacehs.com, email admissions@pacehs.com, or call (305) 923-7223, ext. 342.