Spelling Bee MSAD hosts an annual Spelling Bee for elementary students from first through fifth grade. The participating students are given 100 words and definitions that are directly from The Scripps National Spelling Bee, along with ASL videos demonstrating the spelling and definition of each word. The top three spellers will then compete against top spellers from the California School for the Deaf-Fremont, Indiana School for the Deaf, Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, Maryland School for the Deaf, New Mexico School for the Deaf, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, and Texas School for the Deaf. Gallaudet University's Youth Program facilitates the competition among the national finalists via video conference to determine the national spelling bee champion.
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Battle of the Books MSAD has two teams set to compete in the annual Battle of the Books competitions sponsored by Gallaudet University. The competition has three divisions, each division consists of the students who read at the 3rd/4th grade levels, 5th/6th grade levels, and the 7th and above levels. Teams prepare for competitive matches with other schools/programs for the deaf across the nation by independently reading an assigned list of selected books for the competition and are tested on their ability to answer multiple-choice and short answer questions; the final round of the playoff match include presentation-style questions.
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Math Team MSAD sponsors a Math Team, an academic extracurricular activity for middle school students. The Math Team is a competitive team that participates in RIT/NTID's annual Math Competition for deaf and hard of hearing students. Students are tested on a wide variety of extensive math skills and knowledge, as they compete on math problems individually and with their school team.
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Academic Bowl MSAD sponsors an Academic Bowl, an academic extracurricular activity for high school students, which is affiliated with Gallaudet University's annual Academic Bowl competition. The Academic Bowl team prepares for head-to-head quiz bowl format competitions at regional and national tournaments with other schools/program for the deaf across the nation; Student are tested on their knowledge of high school curriculum- math, science, geography, history and literature- and other topic such as art, current events, deaf history, mythology, sports, and trivia. |
ASL Bowl
This is a competition for our 7th-12th graders to showcase their ASL skills in three categories- Storytelling, Handshapes and Poetry. The students are grouped into two divisions based on their grades- Division 1 (7th-9th graders) and Division 2 (10th-12th graders). Students compete against other schools in our Great Plains Schools for the Deaf (GPSD) conference Triathlon once each year in the fall. The host school determines a topic for the participants each year.
Oratorical
This is a public-speaking competition using ASL based on the Optimist Club's annual theme. Students are also separated into two divisions like the ASL Bowl. Students are required to develop a typed essay beforehand and share their essay via ASL. This is part of the GPSD Triathlon as explained above in the ASL Bowl section.