Third OCAY League Competition Asks ‘What If?’

What if a major event or invention had never occurred in history? How would the world be different today as a result of this not happening?

That premise began the third Oswego County Academic Youth League competition and eight teams from schools in Oswego County took the challenge to task.

From the printing press to the American Revolution, the invention of aerospace technology to the Industrial Revolution, the teams of four to ten students joined together to discover “what if?”

The challenge was the brainchild of coaches Kayley Pilawa from Oswego and Sandra McCullough from Pulaski and featured four separate tasks.

The first task was to create a visual representation of how the world would be different if their historical episode had never happened.

To advertise and market their film presentation, the teams had to create a movie poster and write a persuasive essay to support their vision of how life would be impacted had their historical episode not happened.

Finally, the students had to complete an MLA style works cited page to accompany their project, documenting their research to support their findings.

The team from Hannibal High School earned gold with their question “what if the printing press was never invented?” and Altmar-Parish-Williamstown took home the silver medal with “what if the colonists had lost the Revolutionary War?”

The team from Sandy Creek High School proposed to the judges: “what if the Industrial Revolution had never occurred?” Their thought-provoking question and supporting arguments earned the team a bronze medal in the competition.

The OCAY League was organized in the spring of 1997 with the idea that academics merit a standing comparable to athletics.

Students’ academic skills are challenged and showcased with a particular emphasis on cooperative problem solving.

OCAY League is coordinated by Dante Ascenzi through the Oswego County BOCES gifted and talented program.

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