Manalapan team set for Challenge

Following a first round victory, the academic team from Manalapan High School is moving on to the second round in The Challenge, an academic quiz show designed to test students' knowledge in a Jeopardy-style format.

The second round matchup between Manalapan and Montville Township High School will air exclusively on News 12 New Jersey at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. March 17, with an encore airing on March 18 at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. The two most recent episodes of The Challenge are also available on demand on channel 612 through News 12 Interactive.

"Both the competition and pressure increase in this second round of The Challenge, but the contestants have honed their skills and are now primed to perform. Cablevision and Power to Learn, Cablevision's education initiative, are delighted to partner with New Jersey high schools to showcase some of the state's most academically talented students in an exciting, entertaining television show. We wish Manalapan and Montville good luck in round two," said Trent Anderson, Cablevision's vice president of education.

The academic quiz show challenges the four-member teams, and one alternate, with increasingly difficult questions during the half-hour competition. The show is divided into three rounds that include multiple-choice questions, a lightning round, where teams try to answer 10 questions in 60 seconds, and a final round where teams can answer questions freely, but risk losing 10 points for incorrect answers.

Continuing each week through June the show shines the spotlight on the students' academic skills as they compete in categories that will test their knowledge of history, science, math, arts and literature and pop culture, for their school's share of $22,500 in prizes.

Representing Manalapan will be team members Albert Ng, team captain Jonathan Newman, Jason Kornblum and Craig Flaster. The team's academic advisers are Stephanie Pepper and Jessy Friedman.

The New Jersey tournament will conclude after a series of elimination rounds with a televised showdown between the two best teams, followed by the first of its kind tri-state challenge among the champions from Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island during late spring 2007. The one remaining high school team will be crowned The Challenge champion.