A team of approximately 160 students from Montgomery Blair High School finished in first place among 678 high schools in the 53rd Knowledge Master Open (KMO), the largest high school academic tournament in America.

The Blair team, led by It’s Academic team members Jeremy Fallick, Joel Muskin-Pierret, Diana Jing and Mario Choi, scored 1797 points out of a possible 2000—one of the highest scores in the history of the tournament—earning Blair the title of Fall 2009 KMO Champions.

Thousands of students throughout the United States and in some foreign countries competed on December 2nd in this academic tournament. Teams receive contest questions based on school curriculum areas (200 questions at secondary levels; 100 at 5th & 6th grade levels) on a CD-ROM and compete using a computer at their own schools. The event is held twice each year.

A special password starts the contest, which must be completed in one session of 2 to 2 1/2 hours for secondary teams and 1 to 1 1/2 hours for 5th and 6th grade teams. Team size is unlimited. Communication among team members is encouraged, but no assistance of any kind may be given by coaches or audience members. Only pencils and paper may be used by students during the competition. Other resources such as calculators and books are not permitted.

The Blair team was prepared by physics teacher James Schafer (240-305-5553; James_R_Schafer@mcpsmd.org).