Challenging the Leaders of Tomorrow

Academic WorldQuest is a flagship program of the World Affairs Councils of America. The game was invented by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte and is now an annual event for many councils across the country. It is a team game testing competitors’ knowledge of topics such as international affairs, geography, history and culture. The World Affairs Councils of America began a national competition in Washington, D.C. in March 2003. There are currently 43 local competitions around the country. The winners of these local competitions are invited to compete in the national competition held in D.C. each spring.

The World Affairs Council of Jacksonville began its own local Academic WorldQuest competition in 2005 and has held it annually in November ever since. Area high schools from counties throughout Northeast Florida (Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, etc.) are invited to attend. Participating high schools bring up to two teams of four students each to compete. The competition is held at the University of North Florida, where teams gather to test their knowledge and answer six rounds of multiple choice questions that are projected onscreen using a visually-compelling PowerPoint and presented by an emcee. The Jacksonville Council selects six of the ten categories presented by the national office every year. Board members of the Jacksonville Council, volunteers, Council members and staff, as well as university affiliates, work together to develop questions for these six categories for the local competition. This helps to prepare the winning team for at least six of the ten categories that will be presented at the national competition.

The Jacksonville Council sends the winning Academic WorldQuest team and their high school advisor to D.C. to compete in the national competition each year. The competition is held annually at the National Press Club. While in D.C., students have the opportunity to interact with other students from all over the country and visit area museums and historical sites.

The following high schools participated in the 2009-2010 competition: Bartram Trail, Bishop Snyder, Bolles School, Duncan Fletcher, Episcopal, Jean Ribault, Mandarin, Nathan B. Forrest, Nease, Paxon School for Advanced Studies, Ponte Vedra, Ridgeview, Samuel W. Wolfson, Stanton College Preparatory and Yulee.

The topics for the 2009-2010 competition were:

  1. World Music
  2. Food Production & Consumption
  3. Pandemics
  4. International Migration Trends
  5. World Cup
  6. Current Events
  7. International Environmental Issues and Policies (surprise bonus program)

In November 2009, the team “The Power Rangers” from Stanton College Preparatory High School won. The following teams took second and third place, respectively: The Bolles School Team and Stanton’s Horde of Peasants.

Organizing a Team

  1. Identify a teacher for a school. Teachers are typically drawn from history, social studies and related fields.
  2. These teachers work with Council staff to promote the event within the school and select team members for up to two teams. There may be four members on each team. The winning team and their high school advisor are sent to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national WorldQuest event. The World Affairs Council of Jacksonville funds their travel to D.C., accommodation and program fees and seeks sponsors to help underwrite the cost of this trip.
  3. While the contest is designed to test students’ current knowledge, many teams do some preparation in advance of the competition. Teams know the topics in advance and there are tips provided to assist in each team’s preparation.
  4. To get started, contact the Council’s office: (904) 280-8162 or download the registration form.
  5. All teams must be registered prior to October 1, 2010.
  6. This year’s competition will take place on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at the University Center at the University of North Florida. Contact the Council for more information.

Funding and Sponsorship

The costs of the Academic WorldQuest program are covered by:

  1. Sponsors ($3,000 to be a Title Sponsor, which supports the winning team’s trip to Washington)
  2. Additional contributions from members ($250 to sponsor a team)
  3. Council members’ dues
  4. In-kind contributions (Prizes and gifts for teams)

Do consider participating as a team or title sponsor, or providing in-kind contributions. Volunteers are also needed to assist the evening of the contest.

  • AWQ 2009 Winners