As the number of teams left in the state football playoffs dwindle down, so do the number of school districts left in a state academic contest created by a new online magazine.
Bridge Magazine, which debuted in September, selected 213 school districts to compete in their State Academic Championships.
Niles Community Schools and Edwardsburg Public Schools survived the first round of cuts and are now among 127 districts left standing.
The school districts were selected based on state statistics, such as MEAP and ACT scores that were collected and compiled in a database by Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing-based research firm.
Like the football playoffs, districts are grouped into eight divisions based on community type and socioeconomic status.
Niles is competing in Division 2, while Edwardsburg is in Division 4. Champions will be crowned in eight different categories ranging from fourth-grade reading to eighth-grade science to graduation rates.
“We are thrilled to be in the final four in Division 4 as identified by Bridge Magazine,” said Edwardsburg Supt. Sherman Ostrander. “I have a staff here that I am extremely proud to be a part of because they are committed to continued improvement and excellence for all our students. I’d certainly be amiss if I didn’t recognize our staff as being a significant contributor to this recognition.”
Derek Melot, senior editor for Bridge Magazine, said the contest is in the spirit of the college rankings made by US News & World Report.
The final results of the championships can be viewed on Tuesday at bridgemi.com.
Niles and Edwardsburg made the final eight in their respective divisions in the following categories: eighth-grade math, fourth-grade math, eighth-grade reading, fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade science.