Gatton Academy Captures State Title in Knowledge Masters Open

A team of 16 Gatton Academy students took top honors in the Kentucky division of the Knowledge Masters Open.

The Knowledge Masters Open provides a challenging, low-cost academic competition in which teams of students compete — nationally and internationally — without leaving their own schools. The KMO began in 1983 with 72 schools; it now annually attracts over 3,000 schools and 45,000 participants from the U.S. and several foreign lands.

Teams in the Knowledge Master Open receive 200 curriculum-based contest questions on a CD-ROM and compete using a computer at their own schools. Questions are answered as a team.  In practice, the competition is a mix of Governor’s Cup and the networked quiz games found in restaurants.

Rohith Palli (Fayette ’10) worked to get other students interested in the competition.  Since the Gatton Academy is not allowed to participate in the KAAC-sponsored Governor’s Cup, Knowledge Masters provided a great outlet for students seeking the thrill of academic competition.

“The competition requires a high level of cooperation among students as we attempt to reach a consensus upon the correct answer,” Palli said.   “The high level of intellect in the room and our comfort with each other–since we, you know, live together– were huge positives.”

To the team’s surprise, they often scored better on questions in areas other than math and science.

“We had fun as we went and discussed between questions a lot,” Palli added.  “We actually missed a trig question the first time, and then answered it on the second attempt only because we squelched our first impulse and solved it.”

Despite this outing being the Academy’s first attempt at the competition, Palli believes they can do better when the test is offered anew in March 2010.  Though the team took top honors in the state, the team placed 72^nd out of the field of nearly 700 worldwide teams.

“I feel like we have the capability of being much higher, but it was a great result for the first try,” Palli said.

For more information, contact Corey Alderdice at 270-745-6565.

Governor's Cup, Knowledge Masters, quick recall, Rohith Palli