Illinois All-Star Team Captures National Championship at 21st Annual Panasonic Academic Challenge

ORLANDO, Fla., June 10, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- MC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A team of six high school students representing the State of Illinois outlasted teams from 27 other U.S. states and territories to take home the top prize in the 21st annual Panasonic Academic Challenge -- the premier high school academic competition in the nation -- at the Walt Disney World's Contemporary Hotel and Resort. Second place was awarded to the Florida All-Star team and third place was awarded to the Dorman High School team from South Carolina.

The team of six students, Mike Verity of Noridge, Ill., Greg Gauthier of Wheaton Ill., Siva Sundaram of Rockford, Ill., Curt Peterson of Wheaton, Ill., and John Brown of Rockford, Ill., were coached by Head Coach Nick Pitz and Co-Coach Dave Adkins. The Illinois All-Star team defeated the All-Star Florida team by one point in the National Championship. The Dorman High School team from South Carolina came in third place, followed by the All-Star Kentucky team in fourth, the Ezell-Harding Christian School team from Tennessee in fifth, and finally the California team from Torrey Pines High School placed sixth.

Each member of this year's winning team from Illinois received a $2,500 scholarship, the runner-up team members from Florida each received $1,500 scholarships and the third place team members from South Carolina each received $500 scholarships courtesy of Panasonic. The top three teams also received Panasonic Academic Championship rings from Herff Jones Inc.

"On behalf of Panasonic, I want to congratulate all of the participants in this year's competition," said Joseph Taylor, Executive Vice President and COO. "Education is the foundation of our future, and we have been proud to support this academic competition throughout the years. This year's championship team from Illinois should take great pride in the scholastic and personal accomplishments that have earned them an exclusive place in this competition's rich history."

The Panasonic Academic Challenge is modeled after Florida's state tournament. Unlike most quick-response contests, the Panasonic Academic Challenge uses a slower-paced format in which as many as six teams at a time answer questions created by a panel of high school and college educators from around the nation. Subjects include mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, fine arts, foreign languages (French & Spanish) and technology.

The teams, which are comprised of six high school students and one or two coaches, are selected to represent their respective participating U.S. state and territory at the tournament where the teams compete for more than $31,500 in academic scholarships and the title of Panasonic Academic Challenge National Champion. The method of team selection varies by state. States with existing state competitions send their championship school or an All-Star team selected from participants at the state competition. In some states, interested schools submit team profiles and the Panasonic Academic Challenge tournament committee selects a state representative.

The 2008 participating teams included: Alabama: Hoover High School California: Torrey Pines High School Colorado: Grand Junction High School District of Columbia: All-Star Team Florida: All-Star Team Guam: Academic of Our Lady of Guam Idaho: Mackay High School Illinois: All-Star Team Indiana: Ben Davis High School Iowa: All-Star Team Kentucky: All-Star Team Louisiana: Baton Rouge Magnet High School Maine: Oak Hill High School Maryland: All-Star Team Montana: Skyview High School New Hampshire: All-Star Team New Jersey: Indian Hills High School New Mexico: Southwest Secondary Learning Center Ohio: Garfield Heights High School Oklahoma: All-Star Team Pennsylvania: State College Area High School South Carolina: Dorman High School Tennessee: Ezell-Harding Christian School Vermont: All-Star Team West Virginia: St. Mary's High School Wisconsin: Rufus King High School Wyoming: All-Star Team

For more information on the Panasonic Academic Challenge, please visit http://www.polk-fl.net/students/academiccompetitions/panasonic/ .

About Panasonic

Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic Corporation of North America markets a broad line of digital and other electronics products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) of Japan, and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic and its products is available at www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.

SOURCE Panasonic

http://www.panasonic.com/

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