Contest launched

The FAFSA first! social media contest kicked off last week. FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Graduating seniors in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Hendry and Glades are eligible to participate.

One winner from each county will receive a $500 prepaid Visa card for school expenses.

To enter, students must:

– Complete their FAFSA, then create a unique and creative post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter related to filing FAFSA

– Tag @FAFSAfirst and five friends in the post to challenge them to also file and enter

– Include the hashtag #IFiledFAFSAfirst

After posting on social media, students must submit a contest entry form online.

Deadline is March 17.

For rules and the form, visit: www.FAFSAfirst.org/contest.

A-Team Challenge finals to broadcast on NBC2

The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools and NBC2 will host the A-Team Challenge in April.

Thirty-three high schools from six counties, including East Lee County High School and Lehigh Senior High School, have been competing in the single-elimination academic competition.

The following games will be broadcast on NBC2:

– Quarter finals: April 1 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

– Semifinals: April 9 from noon to 1 p.m.

– Championship: April 16 from noon to 1 p.m.

Modeled after Jeopardy, a team of high school students from each school competes with each other, answering questions under the categories of science, math, arts and humanities, language arts, social studies and general knowledge.

Public and private schools are invited to compete, with each participating school entering four team players and four team alternates.

The champion team receives a traveling trophy for their school and individual trophies for each player.

The purpose of the challenge is to encourage, promote and spotlight academic achievement and excellence among area students.