Oklahoma School for the Blind Academic Team

General Information and Eligibility Requirements

The purpose of the Academic Team is to enhance the learning and intellectual pursuit of students. The competition will assist learners in appreciating the opportunities of advancing their knowledge. In the past, the OSB Academic Team has successfully blended fun and fancy with learning and academics. We hope to continue this tradition in the future, and with your participation, we know that this is possible.

OSB has two Junior Varsity teams who compete in the Oginali Conference. We start practices the first week of school and competitions run through to Thanksgiving Break. We travel to various schools across Eastern Oklahoma and play numerousgames during this time. Please refer to the calendar for exact dates and times.

OSB also competes in OSSAA Academic Bowl Competition. This includes a District Seeding Competition (in October), Regional (in November), Area (in January), and State (in February) play depending on how well the team does. The top 4 teams at Regionals qualify for Area play; the top 2 teams at Area qualify for State play. Regional, Area, and State competitions occur on Saturdays in different locations around OK and weekend arrangements are required.

The playing team is made up of one captain, three team members, and a trained scorekeeper/timekeeper. The academic team is not required to use the same players for every match and may have more actual members than this, as the individuals on the playing team are rotated on and off.

A game consists of 4 quarters, 2 toss-up quarters consisting of 20 questions each and 2 60-second quarters of 10 questions each. In the toss-up quarters, the first person to buzz in with the correct answer earns their team 10 points per question. In 60-second quarters, the team works together to answer the 10 questions, each question is worth 10 points.

School policy states that academic excellence is required for participation in extra-curricular activities. Students are also required to attend and participate in team practices to be eligible for competition and exhibit qualities of good sportsmanship.

Please read and make sure you understand the following eligibility requirements for the Academic Team.

  1. Eligibility for competition will be determined by the coaches and principal the day of competition.
  2. You must maintain grades of B or above in ALL classes to be eligible for competition.
  3. If your grades fall below 80%, you are not eligible for competition that week. To maintain your status on the team, you must continue to attend practices.
  4. Good sportsmanship at competitions and good citizenship at practices is required. Inappropriate behavior and disrespectful actions or words will not be tolerated and will result in immediate removal from the team.
  5. If you receive a detention, Discipline Review Committee action, ISS, OSS or other disciplinary action you are not eligible for competition that week. To maintain your status on the team, you must continue to attend practices.
  6. You are required to attend ALL practices. Practices are held once a week. If you are absent from a practice, you MUST inform your coach in person prior to the scheduled practice. You are not eligible for competition the week of an absence from practice. If you are absent from more than 2 practices (other than for medical reasons), you may be released from the team. Practices are scheduled to reduce conflicts with scheduled classes and other extra-curricular activities.
  7. To be eligible for OSSAA competition, you must have scored at least 50 points in games before the District Seeding Competition and have maintained eligibility to compete. You must have grades of B or above in all classes on your first term report card.
  8. OSSAA states students are eligible to compete for 5 years. Due to this rule, grade 7 students will not compete in OSSAA competitions.
  9. Letters will be sent home to parents regarding OSSAA competition and must be signed by parents and returned by the due date. Failure to return these letters forfeits your eligibility in further OSSAA competition for the season.
  10. OSSAA practices arescheduled prior to the competition. You are required to attend 90% of these practices.

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

Laci Goins and Faye Miller

Please sign and return this portion by August 27, 2012

I have read and understood the eligibility requirements for the Academic Team. I understand that I must adhere to these requirements to be eligible for competition and maintain status on the team. I understand that Academic Team competition requires me/my student to travel during the school week and that OSSAA competition requires weekend arrangements.

Parent Signature: ______

Student Signature: ______