Below, Holy Sepulchar School teacher Rich Rechenberg moderates a game to determine if faculty members are smarter than the eighth grade student body Friday at the school. Above, a team of teenagers works together to come up with an answer during the game. The event wrapped up activities during Catholic Schools Week at the school in Middlesex Township.

MIDDLESEX TWP — Their pride was on the line with the final question.

"What do St. Albert the Great, Winnie the Pooh and Atilla the Hun have in common?"

When both teams answered correctly with "They have the middle name of 'the,' " it came down to how many points each had bet.

The points were tallied and the teachers proved they were smarter than Holy Sepulchar's eighth grade students by a score of 701 to 660.

In the Holy Sepulchar cafeteria Friday afternoon, it was a close game of "Are You Smarter than Our Eighth Graders?" that wrapped up Catholic Schools Week. The game-show style event posed questions to the students and teachers for points.

Wearing Jeff Foxworthy-style spectacles and mustache, eighth grade teacher Rick Rechenberg moderated while third grade teacher Stacey Meskanick kept score.

Teams aced most questions ranging from, "What are the three states of matter?" to "Name the two locations where the 'shot heard around the world' was fired."

Some questions, though, were far more tricky.

For instance, both teams missed "Name the first Gospel," mistakenly answering the first one in the Bible, Matthew, instead of the first one written, Mark.

That kept the score close throughout the game. Leading into the final question, the score was 370 to 330 in favor of the teachers.

But, the final question couldn't trip anyone up, and the teachers prevailed.

The activity was one of many in schools across Butler County and the diocese to mark Catholic Schools Week, which ended Saturday.

The Butler Catholic students events during the week included special prayer services, generation appreciation day, and a talent show.

The week also kicked off a campaign "Catholic Schools: Dividends for Life," which promoted the concept that even in a tough economy, Catholic education is a good investment.

In the six counties of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, there are 108 Catholic schools that educate 24,000 students and employ 1,800 teachers. There are five Catholic elementary schools in Butler County.

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