In April, students from St. Philip the Apostle School competed in the latest installment of the World Scholar’s Cup.

Needless to say, the Falcons soared high and achieved great success!

The World Scholar’s Cup is an academic competition with four parts: team debate, collaborative writing, the Scholar’s Challenge (a 120-question test), and the Scholar’s Bowl, a super-quiz type event.

During the two-day event, St. Philip did exceptionally well in all areas.

On Day One, the teams competed in writing, a test, and a team debate.

Day Two included the students competing in the Scholar’s Bowl, a format similar to a super quiz, followed by a time of anxiously waiting for the results during the awards ceremony.

Overall, St. Philip scored very well, finishing in seventh place for the ENTIRE competition.

In the debate showcase, Alexa Ho represented St. Philip, while yours truly participated as a panelist.

Several Falcons also received many awards in each event.

In addition to winning, each student also received an alpaca, the infamous llama-like creature that is the mascot of the World Scholar’s Cup.

First-time participant Camille Kinderman (5th grade) said World Scholar’s was “really fun,” and the following represents a transcript of our further conversation:

Sara Porras (Falcon’s Flyer): Hi, do you mind if I record our conversation? I have to get permission.

Camille Kinderman: No.

SP: Great. What do you think was the best part of World Scholars, like the experience of it?

CK: “I love how they made it really fun, like, it wasn’t really boring, like ‘okay take the test’ or ‘okay do the debate’, they always made it really fun…”

SP: Well, that sounds great. What do you think you learned from World Scholar’s?

CK: I learned a lot about the current events, and like got to learn a different, like, perspective. It’s also a learning experience like that helps me find, like… my writing style. How to improve, same with debate. For the test, it’s like trying to remember, so it’s kinda like a memory game. For the Scholars Bowl, it was just fun.

SP: Alright, so what was your favorite part, would you say?

CK: I really liked the Scholar’s Bowl, it was so fun.

SP: Nice. So, do you have anything you would like to add for someone else?

CK: I highly recommend doing World Scholar’s and pay attention and read everything thoroughly.

SP: Alright, thank you.

So, Falcons, the 2024 World Scholar’s Cup proved to be a tremendous success, and the entire St. Philip the Apostle School community should be incredibly proud of all of the participants.

It was an all-around great experience, both from an academic perspective and through the presence of MANY Alpacas.

Hopefully, we’ll see some of you there next year!