By Kathryn Schiliro
Managing Editor

    In a bid to make the semi-finals, Morgan County High School students will face Cobb County's Walton High School in a second round of WSB-TV's "High Q."
    The "High Q" team, also the school's award-winning Academic Bowl team, features students Grant Phelps, Seth Porter, Eric Johnson and Patrick Vernon and alternates Kyle O’Connell and Miriam Cruz-Salas and is coached by teacher Karl Scott, according to Pat Lemming, assistant principal.
    The Morgan County team defeated Madison County in the fall, and is back for the second round, which will determine what teams make it to the semi-finals.
    In its 20th year, the "High Q" program consists of four rounds. According to Lemming, the first round includes general "Toss-Up" questions worth 10 points a piece; the second round, "Toss-Up" questions with bonus opportunities worth 5, 10 and 15 points; the third round, a "Speed Round," where participants answer as many questions on one topic as they can in one minute; and the fourth round, the "Final Exam," where all questions are "Toss-Ups" worth 20 points a piece. "Higher Q" questions come into play in the first and fourth rounds. Students wager points - in increments of 10 in the first round, 20 in the fourth round - and add or deduct those points depending on whether they answer the "Higher Q" question correctly.
    Unlike Academic Bowl, where questions incorporate elements of curriculum, "High Q" questions vary in range from academic to pop culture.
    "It's a much broader spectrum of questions," Lemming said. "The Academic Bowl is based on curriculum, primarily; this ['High Q'] can be anything." To watch Morgan County High School take on Walton High School, tune in to WSB-TV this Sunday, February 8 at 12:30 p.m.

PUBLISHED IN THE FEBBRUARY 5, 2009 EDITION