photo by: Contributed photo

Bishop Seabury Academy's Academic WorldQuest team of, from left, Lyle Griggs, Evan McHenry, Peter Westbrook and Audrey Nguyen-Hoang is pictured with their trophy from the competition's Kansas City, Mo., regional, which took place Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Bishop Seabury Academy’s Academic WorldQuest team is heading off to nationals this spring.

The school’s team finished first at the Kansas City, Mo., regional, which was held this week at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said Leslie McCaffrey, admissions director for Bishop Seabury. The team took on many area schools, including much larger high schools from the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley school districts, she said.

As regional winners, the Bishop Seabury team earned an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the national competition, which is scheduled for April 25, according to the competition’s website. Last year, the region was represented by Shawnee Mission East High School.

The Bishop Seabury team includes Lyle Griggs, Evan McHenry, Audrey Nguyen-Hoang and Peter Westbrook.

Academic WorldQuest is a competition that quizzes high school students about their knowledge of world affairs, geography, history and events. For this year’s competitions, the teams are being tested on their knowledge of U.S.-Russia relations, South Korea, the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” from the European Union, and several other world topics.

The World Affairs Council of America, a nonprofit educational organization, oversees the competition. The International Relations Council, a local member organization, has operated the Kansas City regional competition since 2006.