Are YOU Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?  

Fans of the popular television show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” know just how challenging the questions posed on that competitive program can be. However, for the fifth-grade students at W.S. Mount Elementary School in the Three Village Central School District, those questions include many of the topics that are discussed daily in their classrooms. In an effort to reinforce the grade-level’s history curriculum and in preparation for the New York State Social Studies Exam, the school recently coordinated their own version of the famous show.

Prior to the evening competition, the school’s entire fifth grade took a 100-question social studies exam and the top student from each class qualified to compete as their class’s representatives for a schoolwide version of the show. After the class competition, five students, Michael Incardona, Grace Zhang, Dominic Lamonica, Arman Esmaili, and Rebecca Schneider, emerged as the victors and made up the student team for the final contest. Volunteering to compete against the students in the last round was sixth grade teacher Jason Hugues, Elementary Education Executive Director Dr. Kenneth Bossert, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Jeffrey Carlson, Board of Education member and W.S. Mount School Liaison Carol Leister, and school principal Nathalie Lilavois.

During the school’s version of the program, the teams answered questions from a variety of categories, including presidents, the American Revolution, government, general terms, and the economy. The scores remained close during the entire battle, and the audience was impressed with each side’s knowledge of the different areas.  “We felt this was a great way to not only prepare the students for the state exam but also to make learning a fun experience,” stated fifth-grade teacher Stefanie Baldante. “We are truly grateful to the adults who volunteered to participate in the program…it truly shows how invested this district, its administration, and community members are in education and our children,” added fifth-grade teacher Janet Von Bargen.