Chinese Language & Culture students participated in the Michigan China Quiz Bowl that took place Saturday, April 14. This is the 4th year of the competition and the first time Lamphere students attended. 14 students from Grace Liang's classes at Page Middle School and Lamphere High School got up early on this Saturday morning  to form 5 teams and travel to L'Anse Creuse district's Pankow Center in Clinton Twp. for the event.

There were 73 teams from 17 schools competing in the 2012 Michigan China Quiz Bowl. The event is open to public and private schools state-wide and is organized and sponsored by the Confucius Institute at Wayne State University. Teams compete in Middle School levels 1 through 3 and High School levels 1 through 4.

"Our students were pitted against nearby public school districts such as Troy and Utica and private school teams from Cranbrook High, University of Detroit Jesuit & Catholic Central," said Liang. There are 3 rounds of 25 questions - 5 geography questions and 20 language questions . Students compared knowledge and ability of the Chinese language by being tested not only in understanding and speaking the language but also reading the characters.

Many works of art were created andentered into the art contest portion of the Quiz Bowl. Lamphere students made posters, papier-mâché masks & animals and T-shirt designs all using Chinese characters to announce the Quiz Bowl and themed to welcome the Year of the Dragon. Lamphere High School students Simon Liu and Carter Silva earned the First place, Hannah Griffin is finished at second place, and the year of dragon T-shirt designed by Lamphere High School student Jaleesa Titus got the third place.

For the final result of Chinese language contest, Page Middle School students Michael Ham, Emily Wrobel, JonaFina Torres and Victoria Reynolds won twice and tied on e leading them to the 4th place in their division. Lamphere High school students Phuc Hoang, Vy Nguyen , Shelby Phillips and Daniel Terry earned 3rd place in their division. 

"All the kids had a good time and many are already talking about strategy for next year," said LIang.  "The China Quiz Bowl was a spectacular experience. It proves that you can do something. Even if you don't get a right answer, you still tried and that is all that counts," said Emily Wrobel, 8^th grade student at Page Middle School "The China Quiz Bowl also shows that you are taking a step farther by competing. I recommend it to everyone who likes a little challenge in their life. You will feel really proud one you done it and might just find a part of you that you didn't know!"

Overall, students handled themselves very well and Lamphere was well represented.