- Basha High
- AMS Academic Pentathlon
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AMS Basha Academic Pentathlon
Back-to-Back National Champions
We will not meet in July. We can start meetings in August or September. Mrs. Wuthrich will have a meeting for all interested students soon. Parents and students can meet with Mrs. Wuthrich for a presentation and Q & A session during our AMS Open House on Thursday July 21st.
If you are interested in joining AcPen for the 2022-2023 season, please email Mrs. Joann Wuthrich. Please include your name and grade when you email. Students can join at any time up until the state competition. Please fill out the form using the QR code or link below:
https://forms.gle/bd5h5c5wcSpDyiYP8
Coach: Mrs. Joann Wuthrich
National Champions 2022
National Champions, State Champions, Region Champions - 8th Grade Team -2022
Top Score in Nation for 7th grade, 2nd in State, Region Champions 7th Grade Team - 2022
State Champions, National Champions - 8th Grade Team - 2021
State Champions, 3rd in Nation - 7th Grade Team - 2021
National Champions 2021
State Champions 2021 State Champions 2022
Coach: Mrs. Wuthrich
AMS Basha welcomes any 6th, 7th and 8th graders who have an interest in Academics to join our very successful club and competitive team.
Important Competition Dates (There are no makeup dates - students must be available on these dates)Scrimmage – Subject Area Exams Only .........................................................................January 12, 2023
Essay for Regional Competition.....................................................................................January 26, 2023
Regional Competition .................................................................................................. February 16, 2023
Essay for State Competition ........................................................................................ March 7, 2022
State Competition ........................................................................................................March 30, 2022
Essay for National Competition....................................................................................April 20, 2022
National Competition, Mesa, AZ, Online and Individual...............................................May 18-20, 2022
Competition Format:
Subject Description
Fine Arts 50 question multiple-choice test (25 minutes) =1000 points
Literature 35 question multiple-choice test (20 minutes) = 600 points + Essay: 40 minutes = 400 points =1000 points combined
Mathematics 35 question multiple-choice test (30 minutes) = 1000 points
Science 50 question multiple-choice test (30 minutes) = 1000 points
Social Science 50 question multiple-choice test (25 minutes) = 1000 points5000 points possible per individual - individual medals awarded per subject based on individual scores. Overall medals are awarded for the top combined scores out of /5000. (Usual top scorer is in the 3800-4000 range)
30000 points possible per team - team trophies awarded for state/nationals top 3 teams
Meeting place TBA.
Students can join at any time up until the state competition. However, those that spend their time studying throughout the year usually score higher.
Curriculum Announcement for 2022-2023:
The American Revolution and a New Nation
▪ LITERATURE: The literature curriculum will include critical reading, one long work of
literature, and selected shorter works. The long work of literature will be Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson.
▪ MATHEMATICS: The mathematics curriculum will cover algebra and trigonometry.*▪ ART: The art curriculum will explore early American art.
▪ MUSIC: The music curriculum will present an introduction to early American music.
▪ SCIENCE: The science topic will be an introduction to chemistry and will include brief
discussions of significant advancements made in chemistry during the last half of the
eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century.**
▪ SOCIAL SCIENCE: The social science topic will be the American Revolution and the
founding of the United States of America.-
- *All test questions will be derived from the USAP curriculum and resource guides. Critical thinking is key. It is not possible to only memorize material and score well.
AcPen, as we affectionately call it, is a competition where students have the year to study specific materials under a unified curriculum and are then tested in a competition format. Much like swimming or track and field, there are 5 events (Math, Science, Social Studies, Literature and Fine Arts). Some students may be specialists. They can win medals in areas where their strengths lie. Others are true pentathletes and do well in all subjects. All students MUST compete in all 5 disciplines. They cannot pick and choose. Like wrestling, they compete in weight divisions, with the weight being GPA levels.
Our three GPA groups are:
Honors: 3.8-4.0 unweighted
Scholastic: 3.2 -3.79
Varsity: Any GPA below 3.19
A team can only win with teammates in all three weight divisions. A full team consists of 3 honors, 3 scholastic and 3 varsity students. This provides an opportunity for students who are academically interested, but for some reason, have B or C grades to succeed. It also shows students at a young age that grades are not necessarily an indicator of intelligence and that they should strive to work with other students at all levels. Students also experience that often the person with the highest GPA is not necessarily the smartest person in the room. I have been pleasantly surprised at how some of our "C" students have scored higher than many of the "A" students. This develops a tolerance for different talents in peers and a greater ability for collaboration.
All students will need to acquire and read the following book:
Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Much like Battle of the Books, this should be read a few times to do well on the tests, but one read will earn points for sure.
Resource guides for the 2022-2023 season are posted in the Google Classroom. Please start reading them in your free time if possible. DO NOT SHARE these with anyone outside of AMS or their parents. We pay for a site license and are only authorized to use them within our own school.
We suggest you download these materials so that you can access them offline if necessary. Load them on your phone, tablet, home computer, laptop and/or USB drive. I strongly encourage you to print the resource guides and put them in a binder with dividers for study; especially if you learn better on paper than electronically. Hard copies also give you a format where you can highlight important points for review right before a competition. If you prefer digital format, I highly recommend that you highlight your PDF as you are reading and remember to save each time you close the file, so that the highlighting is saved and you can review key points, dates, words or ideas before a competition.
This year we will be splitting up into study groups similar to what we did last year. There will be designated group leaders. Please let me know if you wish to be a group leader. There will be responsibilities associated with this position that will include reporting back to me.
There is a $30 fee that helps to pay for the curriculum that we purchase (found in the google classroom) and the competition fees for each student. This $30 does NOT cover all Academic Pentathlon costs. For this reason, we ask families to donate using tax credit where it is possible.
I know this is a lot of information. Please ask any questions that you have. I am happy to answer what I can.
A $30 fee and permission slip signed by a parent are necessary to compete. Please pay the fee at the BHS Bookstore or online. This is a tax credit eligible fee. We encourage parents to make a tax credit donation to our Club using the tax credit program up to their eligible amount ($400 married filing jointly or $200 single, head of household or married filing individually). Please designate any donations including the $30 club fee and up to your eligible donation amount to AMS Basha Academic Pentathlon Club. Thank you!Payments accepted:
- Cash
- Checks (made payable to Basha High School)
- Debit/Credit (No AMEX)
QUICK STEPS TO PAY ON LINE:
- LOG ON TO PORTAL CHOOSE CAMPUS PARENT (USE LINK BELOW)
- CHOOSE THE MORE LINK (BOTTOM LEFT OF PORTAL PAGE)
- CHOOSE IN TOUCH FEE PAYMENTS
- FIND THE FEE(S) TO PAY
- IF A FEE IS NOT AVAILABLE ON LINE WE WILL HAVE TO ADD IT TO YOUR STUDENTS ACCOUNT, PLEASE CALL THE BOOKSTORE 480-224-2265 OR HAVE YOUR STUDENT PAY AT THE BOOKSTORE.
- LINK TO PORTAL LOG ON: Click Here to Pay Online.
MORE DETAILED INFORMATION REGARDING PAYMENTS:
Parent / Guardian Instructions
Parent Instructions for Making Tax Credit Donations & Fee Payments
Step-by-step instructions for logging in and making tax credit donations or student fee payments. NOTES: Must login as parent/guardian, not as student. If using a mobile device you must use your Internet browser, not the Infinite Campus app.InTouch (TouchBase) - Tips and FAQs for Parents
Describes how to use InTouch (TouchBase) to:- Make fee payments linked to your student's account
- Make tax credit donations linked to your student's account
- View payment history
- Reprint receipts
- View any outstanding fines and fees.
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COMMUNITY MEMBERS/NON PARENTS
Community members/non-parents can also make online tax credit donations to a specific Basha student, eligible activity, or to the BHS general & athletic funds via InTouch Receipting link below. Please note there is a convenience fee charged to pay online.
*Link may take a few seconds to load
Click Here for Online Tax Credit Donations
Support our Academic Pentathlon Club with your Tax Donations!Arizona law ARS 43-1089.01 enables taxpayers a tax credit contribution of up to $400.00 per calendar year if filing status is Married, filing Joint Return; $200.00 per calendar year if filing status is Single or Head of Household; and, $200.00 per calendar year if filing status is Married filing separate return — for contributions that fund extracurricular activities in public schools. A tax credit is a full refund, not a deduction.Contributions eligible for a tax credit are donated directly to schools, not to the state or the school district. -