By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

MANCHESTER — Manchester Academic Charter School (MACS) is sending four of its students to the Academic Games National Tournament, a competition held in Washington, D.C., in which students compete in a variety of educational games in pursuit of a coveted “Thinker Trophy.”

MACS’ delegation to the competition consists of two middle schoolers, Aniysia Todd and Rayzerra Best, and two elementary schoolers, Xaria Johnson and Indigo Joseph.

“I have been coaching Academic Games for 13 years, and it’s an incredible honor to see our students rise to the challenge year after year,” said Rae Lynn Melnyk, Academic Games Coach for MACS, in a prepared statement. “Qualifying for Nationals each season is a testament to their dedication, critical thinking, and teamwork.”

The students qualify to attend by ranking among the highest scorers at local versions of the competition. MACS competes in the Western Pennsylvania Academic Games League, which will send 125 students and 17 coaches from across 10 different schools to the National Competition. While the students compete individually at the local games, those from the same league will work together in D.C.

Rayzerra Best, left, and Aniysia Todd stand in front of a mural at MACS’ middle school campus. Photo by Sean P. Ray

Johnson said that competing in the local games can be “stressful,” as the students must wait to hear if they qualify while sitting next to other students they don’t know. During the local games, students are seated away from their fellow classmates.

Best said the local tournaments were “challenging,” but she knew they were helping prepare them for the nationals. Further, the tournaments presented them with the opportunity to make new friends with students from other schools.

The students themselves told The Chronicle that they feel great about qualifying to compete.

“I think it feels pretty good,” Todd, who is in eighth grade, said of qualifying. “I qualified last year but I couldn’t go, so this is a good opportunity for me to experience that before I graduate.”

The Academic Games are made up of several categories, and students qualify by achieving high results in a certain game. The game categories include Presidents, Propaganda, Current Events, Equations, LinguiSHTIK, On-Sets and Theme, a game involving a different historical theme that changes from year to year. This year, the Theme game is about the history of Washington, D.C.

Todd qualified in Presidents and Best qualified in Theme, while Johnson qualified under Current Events and Joseph for both Presidents and Theme.

Joseph shared that she enjoyed the new facts and ways of thinking she learned by competing in and practicing for the games.

“A lot of things I learn in school aren’t the same as the games,” she said, “and the games give me a lot more technical thinking, I feel like.”

Best said that she enjoys “the challenge” of the competitions, and continually improving her skills. She said she likes to “figure it out” and learn “what to do next time and what not to do.”

The students practice both together and individually, honing their abilities.

“There are times where I would go up to an hour of studying,” said Todd. “Just trying different ways or just going over the notes that we have.”

Johnson, who admitted feeling a bit nervous about going to the national competition, said she practices weekly. She expressed a love for school work, both in and out of the classroom.

“I like classwork, I like homework,” she said. “I just like working.”

The National Tournament will kick off on April 25 and run through April 28. This year’s games are the 58th iteration of the competition, which has been running since 1966. The games are held in a different location each year, with last year’s occurring in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring just over 1,000 participants.

For more information, visit agloa.org