Published March 4, 2026
BY JOHANNA MELTON
Carmel River Elementary School will soon be hosting its first International Academic Competition, a buzzer based trivia competition surrounding history, geography and science, created by 19-time “Jeopardy!” winner David Madden.
Priced at $50 per subject, any kindergarten through 12th grade student in Monterey County may participate from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. in the March 18 event, just one of 200 competitions taking place across the country and around the world. The material is drawn from academic curriculum, creating multiple subject-based competitions, with question difficulty varying by grade level and students competing against similarly aged opponents.
“Everyone sits at two tables and there’s a buzzer,” explains fifth grader Albert Liu, who competed in both national and regional competitions last year. “The reader reads out the question and if you have an answer then you hit your buzzer.”
Points are earned by answering a question correctly and those with the most points move on to the next round of the competition. Students can take an online exam to qualify for a regional competition, and if they make it into the top half of their grade competing, students can earn the opportunity to attend the nationals, taking place in Orlando, Florida.
“Last year I got a plaque for being a semi-finalist,” says Will Langston, a sixth grader at Carmel Middle School who made it to the national semi-final. “You get a big trophy if you’re first, second or third place in the nationals, and if you’re first, second or third in the regionals you get a certificate.”
International Academic Competitions have worked with River School in the past, as many students have shown interest in the competitions and asked if the welcoming campus would be willing to host this year’s event. River School is excited to host this year to make it easier for local students to compete.
“We’re excited that it’ll be here in Monterey County because students in the past have had to travel to the Bay Area to compete in the live competitions,” says Elizabeth Marsh, a River School teacher in charge of organizing the event.
With the advanced content the competitions test on, preparation can take a lot of effort, requiring students to dedicate time beforehand to study the material thoroughly.
“I’d recommend giving it a try, but you can’t just join it and not prepare,” says Liu.
Marsh has visited each of the fourth and fifth grade classrooms at River School, working with the students to practice science content that may be covered in the competitions, as well as reaching out to Tularcitos Elementary School, Captain Cooper Elementary School, Carmel Middle School and Carmel High School to spread the word of the event.
“For the regionals they have a list of study topics you can use and for the nationals they have a list of questions from the previous years,” says Langston, “I practiced with those and read a lot of books to prepare.”
As well as searching for participants, River School is also in need of 12 to 15 high school volunteers and workers to help out at this year’s competition. Anyone over the age of 16 can contact International Academic Competitions, answer a short form, be interviewed and grab a job at the competition to earn up to $200.
River School is looking forward to turning their hosting of the competitions into a successful community event, encouraging the knowledge of geography, science and history.
Marsh says, “We hope lots of students from the Carmel Unified School District will attend.”
