Academic WorldQuest 

Naples' newest school, Aubrey Rogers High School, won the NCWA High School Academic WorldQuest competition March 24, 2024, and traveled to Washington DC for the national competition in April. For the first time a group of four freshmen earned the champion's title. The local competition is sponsored by the Naples Council on World Affairs, and the national competition by the World Affairs Councils of America.

Winning team members in the NCWA event were Aaron Bozman, Bennett Bozman, Luke Brown and Alex Ewy. Team coach was Meghan Joyce, who also was named NCWA Educator of the Year. They were among 84 students and 21 teams from six high schools in Collier County that competed in the local competition. The Bozmans and Brown were on the team that won the AWQ Middle School championship in 2023. 

Second and third places went to Gulf Coast High School teams including Emiliano Aguilera, Isabella Lala, Selma Parfene and Everett Tedrow in second place; and Quinn Fairbrother, Khang Lee, Katie Saadeh and Aiden Stien in third place. NCWA bestowed medals and Amazon gift cards to the winners.

NCWA’s middle school AWQ took place at the Community School on March 2. The results were: Community School of Naples, first place; Pine Ridge Middle School, second place; Community School of Naples, third place.

For a copy of the press release announcing the winning teams, click here.

What Is Academic WorldQuest?

Academic WorldQuest is a fun, fast-paced team game testing students’ knowledge of international affairs. In the game, four-person teams compete by answering questions divided into ten theme categories. The program tests players’ knowledge of subjects such as current international politics, geography, global economics, history, forms of government, capitals of the world, citizenship and the U.S. Constitution, ancient civilizations, U.S. history, the U.S. in world affairs, world leaders, world cultures, and more.

Some 50 World Affairs Councils, including the Naples Council on World Affairs (NCWA), hold AWQ competitions for students in their communities.The winner is the team with the most correct answers. One winning high school team is invited to represent their high school, city, and local World Affairs Council at the Carlos and Malú Alvarez Academic WorldQuest National Competition in Washington DC, held in the spring each year. 

For more than a decade, NCWA has sponsored AWQ competitions in two programs in Collier County -- one for public and independent high schools and the second for middle schools. The Middle School AWQ was March 2, 2024, and the High School AWQ was March 23, 2024, both at the Community School of Naples. The NCWA winning high school team -- composed of freshmen at Naples' newest high school, Aubrey Rogers High School -- was sent to national competition in Washington DC on April 20, 2024.

In 2025, the Middle School competition will be on March 1, 2025 and the High School competition on March 29,  2025, again at Community School of Naples.

This season's subject categories for the high school competition were:

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): Alliance and Collective Defense in a Changing World
  
• Demographic Dividends - Population Shift in Africa
  
• The Global South 
  
• Sports and Diplomacy
  
• Country in Focus: South Korea
  
• Promoting a Green Europe
  
• Women's Contributions to Track II Diplomacy 
  
• Navigating AI: The Global Workforce 
• Great Decisions
  
• Current events
  

Try your hand at answering the study questions, and see how you score! Click here for the 2025 study guide.

High School Academic WorldQuest Winners for 2024

First place in the High School Academic WorldQuest was won by a freshman team from Aubrey Rogers High School. From left are Mimi Gregory, NCWA Vice President for Programs; Meghan Joyce, team coach, also named NCWA Educator of the Year; students Aaron Bowman, Bennett Bowman, Luke Brown and Alex Ewy; and Jim Seymour, NCWA's manager of the competition. The Bozmans and Brown were on the team that won the AWQ Middle School championship in 2023. 

Second place winning team was from Gulf Coast High School. With Mimi Gregory, Vice President for Programs, left, is Emiliana Aguilera, Isabella Lala, Selma Parvenu, Everett Tedrow and Jim Seymour, manager of the competition. Not pictured is Sue Soulard, high school coach.

Taking third place in the High School AWQ competition was another team from Gulf Coast High School. From left is Mimi Gregory, NCWA Vice President for Programs, Quinn Fairbrother, Khang Lee, Katie Saadeh, Aiden Stein, and Jim Seymour, NCWA manager of the high school competition. Not shown is Sue Soulard, high school coach.

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High School Academic WorldQuest Winners for 2023

Team A from Gulf Coast High School placed first and later participated in national competition in Washington DC. From left are Jim Seymour, NCWA chair of the competition; Bharath Ram, Noah Thorne, Liam Castro and Grant Arnold.

Middle School Academic WorldQuest Winners for 2023

Team C from North Naples Middle School won first place in the Middle School Academic World Quest Competition. From left are Mark Walchak, NCWA School Outreach Committee chair; Mikie Stroh, coordinator for K-12 social studies programs for Collier County Public Schools; Bennett Bozman; Luke Brown; Aaron Bozman; Karthik Pandiri; Sandy Karaganis, chair of the MS AWQ program, and Ashley
Giannone, faculty coach of the team.

Middle school students prepare for the competition at the Community School of Naples.