W.H. High School all-stars set to compete

West Hempstead High School all-star student scholars will compete against Our Lady of Mercy Academy on MSG Varsity’s award-winning high school quiz show “The Challenge” on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 p.m. on Cablevision’s iO TV.

Back for a second season as “The Challenge” host is Jared Cotter, former FUSE TV host and a popular semi-finalist from American Idol. Cotter will serve as moderator, asking competing high school teams questions based on their knowledge of history, arts and literature, current events, math and science. This season students will be taped competing before a live studio audience.

“We’re thrilled to provide these students from West Hempstead High School and Our Lady of Mercy Academy the opportunity to showcase their talent with their community,” said Theresa Chillianis, MSG Varsity’s general manager. “The Challenge features some of the brightest students from across the tri-state area and we hope everyone will tune in to see them compete for the Tri-State Championship.”

Representing West Hempstead High School will be Jason Kappel (team captain), Pierre Leconte, Caroline Moyer-Laurin, Piotr Paluch and Charles Varrone. The academic advisor is Pamela Gordon.

The Challenge began as a Long Island effort 14 years ago and now includes 184 high schools from the entire tri-state area. Schools advance in the tournament through a series of elimination rounds.  After months of competition, one school in each region is crowned regional champion, winning $2,500 for their school. The final winning teams from each region go on to The Challenge Championship where they square off against on another in a Tri-State Showdown. The school crowned Tri-State Champion will receive $10,000 in prize money and each student participating in the final Challenge Championship game will receive $500.