BG Thinker statue at Bowling Green State University (2001 NSC)

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Ben Cooper

Academic Ambassador Award


     Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award

Call for Nominations:

Please Distribute
to Anyone
Interested

Letters of nomination are now being accepted for the 2010 Benjamin Cooper Memorial Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award and the Young Ambassador Award, to be presented at the National Scholastics Championship. Letters of nomination are being accepted through email only.

Deadline for receipt of nominations: March 1, 2010

The Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award is to be presented to a high school academic competition team member, advisor, or organization whose character best promotes the spirit and honor of quiz bowl competition. The text of nominations and other letters of support should be submitted in confidence.

Please limit your nomination to no more than 1000 words. All materials received will be considered as one, and include any contact information in case the PACE Cooper Award Committee wishes to contact you for additional information. All information submitted to the PACE Cooper Award Committee will remain confidential and will become property of PACE.

Required in your nomination letter is contact information for you (the nominator) and the nominee, including e-mail or regular mailing addresses and evening phone numbers.

Refer to the Citation for the first Ben Cooper Award below for more information about the award itself.

All letters should be e-mailed to Kyle Haddad-Fonda.

A decision on the Ben Cooper Award will publicly announced near the first week of April.

PACE intends to hold a reception on Saturday evening of the NSC in honor of the Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award recipient. Consequently, we request that the awardee be available for this reception. PACE will make every effort to confer this award at the convenience of the recipient.

Benjamin Cooper & The Award

Whereas many teams are well recognized by the strength of their winning programs, sportsmanship and service to the academic competition community are not well appreciated. These virtues not only make academic competitions possible, exciting, and enjoyable, but also are fundamentally necessary for the further growth and promotion of this game at all levels of play. By recognizing individuals or organizations that by their example embody the positive aspects of academic competition, all participants involved in quiz bowl honor the competitive spirit and comraderie that quiz bowl competitions provide.

To encourage the appreciation of these individuals and organizations, be it resolved that the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence establish a Sportsmanship and Service Award. This commendation is to be presented to a high school academic competition team member, advisor, or organization whose character best promotes the spirit and honor of quiz bowl competition.

To establish a precedent and standard for future recipients of this award, the PACE committee has further resolved to establish, present, and dedicate this award to the memory of Benjamin E. Cooper of the "It's Academic" team of Georgetown Day School in Washington DC, as

the Benjamin Cooper Memorial Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award.

Benjamin Cooper was a model student at GDS who was well-liked among his colleagues and the faculty. He participated in many activities in school and in service to the community. Because of his enthusiasm and encouragement to promote academic competition among his team members, he was selected as the captain of the varsity team for the 1997-98 school year. On August 12, 1997, Ben was tragically killed in an automobile accident while returning from his summer job. His death was traumatic to his family, the GDS community, and the members of the PACE committee who corresponded and worked with him. Even when discussing quiz bowl and the PACE network with us, the PACE committee was impressed with his enthusiasm about the upcoming year and our plans for the inaugural NSC.

The members of the PACE committee hereby honor and confer the first Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award to team advisor Sue Ikenberry and the Georgetown Day School academic team in Ben's honor. The GDS team has had a long history of promoting excellence in quiz bowl competition in the Washington, District of Columbia area and around the country, particularly through its web site.

This citation is hereby approved for presentation for June 19, 1998, at the inaugural National Scholastics Championship at Case Western Reserve University.

 

 

      Recipients of the Ben Cooper Academic Ambassador Award

1998

Sue Ikenberry on behalf of Benjamin Cooper

Georgetown Day School
Washington, DC

First award.  Citation above.

Sue Ikenberry accepts the Ben Cooper award at the 1999 NSC from David Bykowski.

1999Joe Hermiller

E. L. Bowsher High School
Toledo, OH

Although many of the people in the country have not heard of him - no appearances in national tournaments and a couple of appearences in Ohio state playoffs - he has run Toledo area quiz bowl for over 20 years. He is not able to walk well and move so he does not travel his team even to local tournaments. He has always put the enjoyment of the game for the students. He cares more about how the kids enjoy the game. He is a person dedicated to quiz bowl he has given as much as he can for the game.
2000Academic Competition Enterprises

Rick Barry
Brookwood HS, Snellville GA

James Garrick
Paul Dorman HS, SC

and

Hodges Lewis
Irmo HS, SC

co-recipients

The 2000 Benjamin Cooper Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award was given to J. Rick Barry (advisor of the Brookwood High School Academic Team, Snellville GA), James Garrick, Jr. (advisor of the Paul Dorman High School Academic Team, Spartanburg SC), and Hodges Lewis (advisor of the Irmo High School Academic Team, Irmo SC [not shown]) for their contributions as Academic Competitions Enterprises to promote excellence in high school academic competition throughout the southeast and the nation. Individually, these three advisors have been responsible for the participation of thousands of high school students in quiz bowl competition in their respective home states through the running of academic competitions on their campuses. Together, they have collaborated to organize a summer quiz bowl retreat at Furman University, where many of the brightest high school students and their advisors learn about the “tricks of the game” in a collegial environment.

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2001Robert C. Grierson
Editor, Scholastic Visions

Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association
Evanston, IL

The 2001 Benjamin Cooper Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award was given to Robert C. Grierson, for his service as founder and editor for Scholastic Visions the official newsletter for the IHSSBCA. Under his tenure as the treasurer of IHSSBCA and editor, Scholastic Visions has increased the visibility of academic quiz competitions in the state of Illinois and beyond. This network has been vital for the continued growth, success, and enjoyment of quiz bowl at both the high school and college levels.

grierson.jpg (31411 bytes)

2002Douglas A. Tyson

Benjamin Banneker High School
Washington, DC

The 2002 Benjamin Cooper Quiz Bowl Ambassador Award was given to Douglas Tyson for his involvement with encouraging students in the Washington metro area. An acclaimed educator involved in science education, Mr. Tyson has increased the popularity of academic competition in the Washington DC area.


2002"It's Academic" television program

 

The 2002 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to the family of producer Susan Altman for their contribution in producing "It's Academic" television programs nationally. Their effort over the last four decades has been seminal to the popularity of high school quiz programs throughout the country.

2003

Carolyn Hawkins

Cookeville High School
Cookeville, TN

The 2003 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Carolyn Hawkins for her service in promoting high school academic competition in the state of Tennessee and nationally. Mrs. Hawkins, advisor to the Cookeville Academic Team, also serves as one of four regional liaisons and the Calendar Coordinator for the Tennessee Academic Coaches Association.
2004

Paul Cain

Ysleta High School
El Paso, TX

The 2004 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Paul Cain for his service to developing and promoting quiz bowl in El Paso, Texas while serving as a role model in education.

2004

Matt Weiner

Virginia Commonwealth University

The 2004 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Matt Weiner for his contributions to the high school quiz bowl circuit, including the development and maintenance of the World of High School Quiz Bowl website.

2004

David Bykowski

Formerly Furman University and University of Michigan

The 2004 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to David Bykowski for his outreach and dedication to developing programs for the high school quiz bowl circuit.

2005

Sue Korosa

Copley High School
Copley, Ohio

The 2005 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Sue Korosa of Copley High School for her dedication and support for academic excellence as shown through building a championship program at Copley and creating a statewide academic team association (Ohio Academic Competitions).

2005

Tom Egan

Maine South High School
Illinois

The 2005 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Tom Egan of Maine South High School for his efforts in supporting and improving academic competition in Illinois.

2006

Bob Weiser

Solon High School
Solon, Ohio

The 2006 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Bob Weiser of Solon High School in recognition of his efforts to promote high school quiz bowl competition (particularly the tossup/bonus/NAQT format and pyramidal-style questions) in Ohio, both on his own and through his high school tournament at Solon.

2006

Dr. John Barnes

Maggie Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies
Richmond, Virginia

The 2006 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Dr. John Barnes of the Maggie Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies in recognition of his leadership and mentoring efforts to help produce the student-run Governor's School Academic Competition (GSAC) tournament and his outreach efforts to promote quiz bowl competition in central Virginia.

2006

Eric Grunden

Raleigh Charter High School
Raleigh, North Carolina

The 2006 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Eric Grunden of Raleigh Charter High School in recognition of his dedication and effort in building the North Carolina Academic Team Association following the potential elimination of the North Carolina Public Library Quiz Bowl.

2007

Julie Gittings

State College Area High School
State College, Pennsylvania

The 2007 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Julie Gittings of State College Area High School in recognition of her years of mentoring players of high school quiz bowl and as an ambassador to the game over a history spanning more than three decades.

2007

Evan Silberman

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Alexandria, Virginia

The 2007 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Evan Silberman of Thomas Jefferson High School in recognition of his leadership in keeping the Thomas Jefferson team active in the absence of a formal coach or advisor as well as his support of the high school quiz bowl community in the Washington, D.C. area and nationally.

2008

Lee Henry

Brindlee Mountain High School
Guntersville, Alabama

The 2008 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Lee Henry of Brindlee Mountain High School in recognition of his dedication and effort in building Alabama Quizbowl, specifically building a framework for pyramidal play, and facilitating interactions between Alabama teams, out-of-state teams and outside vendors.

2008

Chris Sewell

The 2008 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award was presented to Chris Sewell, formerly of Texas A&M University in recognition of his development of the stat program SQBS that has also greatly assisted in the operation of many a high school tournament.

2009

Eric Huff

Paul M. Dorman High School
Roebuck, South Carolina

The 2009 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Eric Huff of Dorman High School in recognition of his efforts in supporting and improving academic competition in the Southeast, particularly by consistently providing excellent opportunities for academic competition in the region, teaching and mentoring quizbowl players both as coach of Dorman and through the ACE camps, helping to shape the direction of the ACE camps, and serving as a model of sportsmanship in the game.

2009

Christian Carter

Minneapolis South High School
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The 2009 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award was presented to Christian Carter of Minneapolis South High School in recognition of his development of and continued work with quizbowlpackets.com as well as supporting and assisting in the continuing development of high school quizbowl in Minnesota.