_{ABOUT ACADEMIC WORLDQUEST}

_{WHAT IS ACADEMIC WORLDQUEST?}

_{Academic WorldQuest is a Flagship Program of the World Affairs Council system. The game was invented by the Charlotte Council and is now widely played at the adult and high school levels in the council system around the country. It is an annual knowledge-based team competition for area high schools with questions focusing on international affairs, current events, the global economy, geography, world history, general knowledge about the world, and more.}

_{Councils sent 48 teams to the national competition in April 2006. Participants come from high schools that work with our councils. Academic WorldQuest is unique to the world affairs council system and has no direct competitor among K-12 knowledge-based competitions in the US or abroad. We want to make it a major national high school competition.}

<sub>It has been a huge success in its first four years.

THE MID-HUDSON VALLEY COMPETITION</sub>

_{Local councils organize area high school competitions as a way of choosing their team for Washington. The World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley has organized competitions for high schools in Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties. Our event for this year is scheduled for December 8, 2007 at the Henry A. Wallace Visitors and Education Center of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, NY.}

_{The Council will sponsor the winning team and their teacher to travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national-level competition organized by the World Affairs Councils of America. Funding of the transportation and accommodation expenses for 2007 was made possible by a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Dutchess County.}

_{THE NATIONAL COMPETITION}

_{The national competition weekend is scheduled for April 4 to 6, 2008. The competition will be the morning of April 5th.}

_{The 3-hour competition is embedded in a long weekend of activities in Washington. Last year's schedule included a dinner and mixer on Friday night, a nighttime tour of Washington's famous monuments, free time for participants to tour the museums and monuments on Saturday morning followed by a luncheon featuring an open-floor discussion with a member of the media. The competition was played on Saturday afternoon, followed by prizes, a pizza dinner, and a performance by Capitol Steps, Washington's favorite political satire group. Sunday morning was free time for participants to sightsee in Washington, DC.}

_{Details of the 2008 national competition schedule can be found at the WACA site.}

_{HOW TO PLAY}

_{The game is a contest between four-person teams representing a high school, a city, and a council. It is moderated by a prominent figure in the field of international affairs or journalism. Teams compete by answering rounds of questions displayed by PowerPoint.}

_{A full competition is 100 questions, 10 rounds of 10 questions per round. (Note: Our regional competition will consist of 10 rounds of 8 questions each and a "Roosevelt Round". (Separate awards will be made for the winners of that round.) Tie breaker rounds will be played if necessary.) Each team has to come up with a single answer to each question. The team with the highest number of right answers wins. Prizes for the top five teams, plus other kinds of prizes and gifts, are given.}

_{WHAT MAKES UP A TEAM?}

_{A team consists of four students and may include one alternate. (Note: Locally, a team shall consist of up to 4 students and an alternate. Should that team advance to the national competition it must conform to the rules of the national board.) Team members can be freshman, sophomores, juniors, or seniors. Unlike previous years, we will not be able to accept any alternates or substitutes during the competition unless there is an emergency. You may bring additional students as observers, but they will not be able participate in the competition. A maximum number of 2 observers per team may come. Each team has to have one or more chaperones.}

_{New in 2007 all teams will have to win a competition in order to qualify for the national competition. For our purposes, a “competition” will be defined as:}

    _{* Schools competing against each other in Academic WorldQuest
    * Students from the same school playing Academic WorldQuest
    * Schools chosen by the winner of a different international competition
    * Students chosen by their individual score in an international competition.}

_{For more information, visit the World Affairs Councils of America at: http://www.worldaffairscouncils.org/programs/flagship/worldquest/}

_{ROUNDS FOR 2007 & CONTEST QUESTIONS}

_{Each round will have 10 questions (8 for our regional competition). There will be 10 rounds. Most questions will have four multiple choice answers. Questions will be projected on a screen by PowerPoint and will be read out by the Moderator. The rounds will not necessarily be in the order below.} 

_{2007 Rounds}

_{Rounds with descriptions are listed below. This is not the order in which the game will be played, only the listing of round categories.}

_{NOTE: For our regional competition there will be EIGHT questions in each of the ten categories, TIE-BREAKING ROUNDS, instead of sudden death questions, and the Current Events round based on the events in the months of September, October and November. There will also be a Roosevelt Round, with separate prizes and awards for the winners of that round.}

International Law
Sponsored by the American Society for International Law
In the regional competitions, questions will be based on the pamphlet "International Law: 100 Ways it Shapes Our Lives" produced by the American Society for International Law. The national competition will draw from "ASIL Insights".

Countries
This round will be on general knowledge questions about countries - type of government, geography, leaders, history, and current events.
 
Current Events
This round will consist of questions on world news and world events happening in early 2008.
 
People in the News
This round will focus on world leaders and newsmakers involved in events around the time of the competition.
 

_{Round 5 Great Decisions 2006}

_{Questions for this round will be drawn from these Great Decisions 2006 articles. The topics are:}

_{Round 6 Countries}

_{This round will be on general knowledge questions about countries: type of government, location, leaders, history, and current events.}

_{This round will consist of questions on world news and world events happening in January, February, and March of 2007 (September, October and November in the regional competition). To prepare, students should read the world news section of the New York Times.}

_{This round will focus on world leaders and newsmakers involved in events around the time of the competition.}

_{Students will be asked about the past, present, and future of international space development.}

_{This round will focus on the creation, development and operations of large humanitarian organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross, CARE, and Doctors Without Borders.}

_{For a preparation study guide and other resources see: Academic WorldQuest Resources}

_{To register your team, go to http://www.hvworldaffairscouncil.org/WQ_Registration.htm}

_{Teams must be registered by November 1, 2006}

_{To register your team's members, go to http://www.hvworldaffairscouncil.org/WQ_Team_Registration.htm}

 _{Members must be registered by November 15, 2006}

_{For more information please contact our coordinator, Joe Lombardi, at AcWQ@hvworldaffairscouncil.org}

World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc.