Congratulations and best wishes MHS Academic Challenge Team The Mattoon High School Academic Challenge team qualified for the State Finals with a fourth place finish in the EIU Sectional. The Academic Challenge in Engineering and Science (ACES) is a statewide contest in which high school teams compete in seven subject areas related to science and engineering. Mattoon competes in Division 1500, which includes schools with enrollments of 701 to 1500 students. This year’s competition has been conducted entirely online due to covid-19 restrictions. Mattoon took first place in the Lake Land Regional and placed fourth in the EIU Sectional with a team score of 305. Individual award winners were Josh Ramage, who placed second in Computer Science, and Rick Wright, who finished second in Engineering Graphics. Other team members were Alexis Davison, Cooper Bergstrom, Gracie Croy, Gavin Gonzalez, James Shamdin, Tyson Gass, Jason Jiang, Meade Johnson, Ben Hinton, Drew Coffey, Josiah Donaldson, Mollie Auer, and Tinley Risinger. The team is coached by MHS science teacher Brendan Aydt. The State Finals will be conducted online between April 5 and April 13.