Schools Entered in Tournament

                   2010 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT  --  --  FEBRUARY 20, 2010

                                                      140 schools entered

                               Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

 (alphabetically by city/town)                  Last Update:  11-19-09                      (Strike-through = withdrew)

       Class "A" Sectional Tournament Locations

                2010 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT  --  --  FEBRUARY 20, 2010

                               Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

                   Assignments as of  __________                                 All tournaments start at 8:30 a.m..

     Schools listed alphabetically by School Name -- these are NOT pairings, only Sectional Assignments.

      Class "AA" Sectional Tournament Locations

                  2010 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT  --  --  FEBRUARY 20, 2010

                                  Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

                Assignments as of  __________                                 All tournaments start at 8:30 a.m.

    Schools listed alphabetically by School Name -- these are NOT pairings, only Sectional Assignments.

      Class "A" Sectional Tournament Results

             2010 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT  --  --  FEBRUARY 20, 2010

                              Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

      Class "AA" Sectional Tournament Results

                2010 SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT  --  --  FEBRUARY 20, 2010

                                Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

Class "A" State Tournament Qualifiers

         2010 STATE TOURNAMENT  --  --  MARCH 6, 2010

                  Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

             State Tournament will be at Riverton High School

                            841 N. Third Street, Riverton

(alphabetically by city/town)

Class "AA" State Tournament Qualifiers

         2010 STATE TOURNAMENT  --  --  MARCH 6, 2010

                 Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

          State Tournament will be at Riverton High School

                          841 N. Third Street, Riverton

(alphabetically by city/town)

        USE PARKING LOT ON SOUTH SIDE OF SCHOOL

          USE DOOR ENTRANCE FOR FINE ARTS AREA

   Coach's Meeting at  a.m.          Opening Ceremony in Auditorium at  a.m.

                           Tournament competition begins at  a.m.

                  Lunch from  p.m. to  p.m. (provided by the Masons)

                        Tournament competition continues at  p.m.

                         Awards Ceremony in Auditorium at  p.m.

                      State Tournament Results

                         2010 STATE TOURNAMENT  --  --  MARCH 6, 2010

                                    Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

                          Lodges Sponsoring Schools

                                                97 Lodges

                            2010 Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl

                                                               All tournaments start at  a.m.

(Numerically by Lodge No.)                      Last Update: 11-18-09                          (Strike-through = withdrew)

ILLINOIS MASONIC ACADEMIC BOWL

What is it?  How does it work?

The following questions are answered in this summary:

• What is the Illinois  Masonic Academic Bowl?

• What is NEW for 2010?

• What is high school “Scholastic Bowl”?

• What is a “toss-up” question?

• What is a “bonus” question?

• What are the rules?

• What time limits are involved?

• How are points awarded?

• How is a team member recognized for answering questions?

• Who judges the competition?

• When is the tournament?

• Who is eligible to participate?

• What does it cost to enter a team?

• How many teams compete in the tournament?

• Are awards given for the “winners”?

• Who develops the questions?

• When do teams enter?

• How are the individual Masonic Lodges involved?

• Does a high school need a Masonic sponsor in order to participate?

• How may additional information be obtained?

What is the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl?

The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl is an academic knowledge competition between Illinois high school scholastic bowl teams.  This is an annual tournament sponsored by the Masons of Illinois and is coordinated through the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois.  The goal is to provide positive recognition for academic excellence.

What is NEW for 2010?

Starting with the tournament in February 2010, the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl will be a 2-Class tournament with round-robin play.  Class “A” (small schools) will compete against only Class “A” schools.  Class “AA” (large schools) will compete against only Class “AA” schools.  There will be 2 State Champions in 2010 – one Class “A” and one Class “AA”.  Tournament competition will be round-robin play instead of double-elimination as in the past years.

What is high school “Scholastic Bowl”?

Two teams compete against each other by verbally answering questions within a specific time limit.  Questions are on subjects typically taught in Illinois high schools.  The areas of subject matter covered by the questions include mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, analytical geometry, computers, and general math), science (biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth science, and general science), social studies (government, geography, history, economics, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and current events), literature and language arts (literature, mythology, journalism, grammar, speech, spelling, and vocabulary), arts(art, music, dance, theater, and architecture), and miscellaneous (sports, business, agriculture, home economics, pop culture, driver’s education, consumer education, and industrial arts).  A competition match consists of 16 “toss-up” questions and 16 three-part “bonus” questions.

What is a “toss-up” question?

A toss-up question is a question that is verbally asked with both teams having the opportunity to answer the question.  The team players may not communicate with one another during the reading of the question or prior to giving an answer.  A team has only one opportunity to give the correct answer to a toss-up question.  When a team player wants to answer the question, he/she activates the lockout system and waits to be recognized by the Moderator before answering.  If the first answer given by one team is incorrect, then the other team has an opportunity to give the correct answer.  Points are awarded for correct answers.  All toss-up questions (total of 16) are asked during the first portion of the match called the Toss-up Session.

What is a “bonus” question?

All bonus questions (total of 16) are asked during the second portion of the match called the Bonus Session.  The team with the lowest score at the end of the Toss-up Session is afforded the first opportunity to answer the first bonus question.  All bonus questions consist of three parts.  Team players may confer among themselves after all parts of the bonus question are read.  Points are awarded to the team based upon the number of parts correctly answered.  Bonus questions are rebounding which means the other team is given an opportunity to answer those parts of the bonus question that are incorrectly answered or not attempted by the team originally awarded the bonus questions.  After the first bonus question, the first opportunity for each bonus question (each with 3 parts) alternate between the two teams for the remainder of the Bonus Session.

What are the rules?

The IHSA (Illinois High School Association) “Rules for Scholastic Bowl” are followed with a few exceptions which are allowable by the IHSA rules.  Some of the exceptions are:

·       The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl has only 16 toss-up questions which are all asked during the first portion of the match called the Toss-up Session.

·       The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl has only 16 bonus questions which are all asked during the second portion of the match called the Bonus Session and all bonus questions contain three parts.

·       The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl will allow a team to compete with a minimum of 3 players.

·       The topic of the bonus question may match the topic of the toss-up question.

What time limits are involved?

The time limit for answering a toss-up question is 10 seconds, with the time starting as soon as the moderator completes reading the question.  If the question involves computation (for example, math calculations or chemistry calculations) then the time limit is 30 seconds.

The time limit for answering all parts of a bonus question is 30 seconds, with the time starting as soon as the moderator completes reading the last part of the bonus question.

How are points awarded?

The team giving the correct answer to a toss-up question is awarded 15 points.

The team giving the correct answers to bonus questions is awarded points based upon the number of parts correctly answered.  If all parts of the bonus question are answered correctly, the team answering all parts correctly receives 30 points.  Teams are awarded 10 points for each part of the bonus question correctly answered.

The team with the highest number of points at the end of the match (16 toss-up questions and 16 bonus questions) is declared the winner.

How is a team member recognized for answering questions?

A ten-position electronic “lock-out” system is used during the match.  Each team member has an electronic push-button control.  When the team member desires to answer the question, he/she depresses the button on the wand, creating an audible sound and energizing a lighted display so that the moderator is able to determine which team member desires to answer the question.  When the button on one electronic control is depressed, all other button controls are electronically “locked-out” from being responsive.  Once the question is answered, the lock-out system is reset, making it ready for all team members to once again use.

Who judges the competition?

Each competition match has one “moderator” who verbally reads the questions and is the chief official for making all decisions relative to the rules of the competition.  Each competition match also has one “scorekeeper” who maintains the official tabulation of the points awarded and assists the moderator in officiating the competition.  Each competition match also has one “timekeeper” who controls the timing of the questions/answers, timing of the 2 official break-times, and timing of time-outs.  The moderator may request assistance from the timekeeper in matters regarding officiating.

When is the tournament?

The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl sectional tournaments are usually held throughout the state of Illinois on the third Saturday in February of each year.  The winners of the sectional tournaments automatically advance to the state tournament.

The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl state tournament is usually held in the Springfield area on the first Saturday in March of each year.

Who is eligible to participate?

All Illinois high schools who are members of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) are invited to enter one team each year.  All IHSA-member high schools, both public and private, with organized scholastic bowl teams may enter.

What does it cost to enter a team?

High schools entering the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl pay NO ENTRY FEE.  Our tournament is financially supported by the Masons of Illinois.

How many teams compete in the tournament?

Each sectional tournament site consists of a maximum of 12 teams.  Our tournament is a round-robin format.  Each team competes against all teams at the specific sectional tournament site unless “pool play” is required due to the number of teams registered.  Pool play means that the teams will be divided into two pools with each pool being round-robin play.  The winner of each pool will compete against each other to determine the champion and 2nd-place finishers and the 2nd-place team in each pool will compete against each other to determine the 3rd-place and 4th-place finishers.  The number of sectional tournament sites is based upon the total number of teams in each class registering to participate in our tournament.

The state tournament is conducted at one location in the Springfield area with the winner of each sectional tournament site automatically advancing to the state tournament.  The state tournament is also a 2-Class round-robin format.  With this format, only sectional champions will advance to our state tournament.

Are awards given for the “winners”?

Monetary scholastic awards are presented to each school finishing in the top four positions at each Class “A” and Class “AA” sectional tournament location and at the state tournament.  Starting in 2010, the Sectional Champion will receive $400, the second-place team will receive $300, the third-place team will receive $200, and the fourth-place team will receive $100.  At the state tournament, $1,500 will be awarded to each State Champion, $1,000 will be awarded to each second-place team, $700 will be awarded to each third-place team, and $400 will be awarded to each fourth-place team.  Each team advancing to the state tournament, but not finishing in the final four of each class will be awarded $100 each.  These amounts could be adjusted in future years of the tournament.  The Masons of Illinois ask only that the scholastic awards money be used by the schools for scholarships or academic purposes (i.e., purchase of practice questions, computer hardware or software, lockout systems, or scholastic bowl team shirts) within the school system.

Starting in 2010, the Class “A” State Champion and the Class “AA State Champion, each, will be given a State Championship trophy to keep instead of a traveling trophy that has been used in past years.

Who develops the questions?

The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, is responsible for obtaining the questions.  The chairman of this committee usually purchases the questions from a reliable company that prepares questions for high school scholastic bowl teams.  Security of the questions is maintained by the chairman of the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee.  For the sectional tournaments, identical questions are used at all of the tournament locations.  For both the sectional tournaments and state tournament, identical questions are used for both Class “A” and Class “AA”.

When do teams enter?

Entry usually commences in early September and concludes on January 10^th.  Late entries (after January 10^th) will be accepted up to February 1^st based upon space availability at the sectional tournament sites.  The earlier that teams enter, the easier it is to organize and schedule the sectional tournament locations; therefore, coaches are encouraged to enter the team early.  There is no penalty to the school if a team must be withdrawn from participation due to scheduling conflicts, weather conditions, personal emergencies of team members or coaches, etc.

How are the individual Masonic Lodges involved?

All Masonic Lodges in the state of Illinois are asked to sponsor a high school scholastic bowl team in our tournament.  The cost of sponsoring a team is $150, payable to the Grand Lodge of Illinois.  A Lodge may sponsor one school, or more than one school, or share the sponsorship of a school with another Lodge.  Some Lodges may not desire to sponsor a specific school, but may wish to make a general donation to this Grand Lodge program.

Masonic Lodges desiring to sponsor a high school should personally contact the Scholastic Bowl Coach at the school to determine the school’s desire to compete in our tournament.  The Lodge may NOT enter the school in our tournament, as the Scholastic Bowl Coach must submit her/his own entry information to the Tournament Director.  Lodges are encouraged to make plans for some of their members to be present at the tournament site on the day of the competition to support their school’s team.

Does a high school need a Masonic sponsor in order to participate?

The simple answer is NO.  If a high school desires to participate in the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl, the high school Scholastic Bowl Coach should submit her/his entry information to the Tournament Director.  The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee attempts to obtain Masonic Lodge sponsors for the schools entered in the tournament.  Even if a school ends up with no Masonic Lodge sponsor, the school will still compete in our tournament, and the school still pays no entry fee.

How may additional information be obtained?

Contact Dale F. Thayer, Chairman, Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee, by email at thayerdale@mchsi.com.  The Chairman of the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee is also the Tournament Director for the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl tournament.  The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl website at http://home.mchsi.com/~thayerdale shows tournament dates, committee members, schools entered, tournament locations and teams attending each location, sectional tournament results, state qualifiers, state tournament results, Masonic Lodges sponsoring high schools, and tournament dates for the following year.