NEWS Let the Games Begin! By:Angie B., Stephenville High, Stephenville, NF Newfoundland schools take on schools in Prince Edward Island in regional playoffs for CBC’s national youth high school contest, Smart Ask! Stayed tuned to CBC Radio One’s On The Go Program between 4:30 and 6:30pm (4:00 and 6:00 in Labrador) for the Radio portion of the competition. This multi-media quiz show hit the airwaves for this regional competition on Friday, September 21st with Charlottetown Rural High winning over Mount Pearl Senior High. Sixteen high schools are participating in these regional playoffs. Each school who qualified in the Smart Ask! Contest form teams of three students who compete in the Radio Games in a fast-driving, 15-minute quiz program. On Sept 28th E.J. Pratt meets Kensington; Oct 5th St. Kevins vs. Montague, PE; Carbonear Collegiate vs. Three Oaks; Oct 19th Glovertown Academy vs. Kinkora Regional High; Oct 26th Roncalli High, Port Saunders vs. Westisle Composite; Nov 2nd Stephenville High vs. Colonel Gray High and on Nov 9th Regina High meets Bluefield High. SMART ASK! is an integrated, multi-platform program using all three streams of media - Radio, Television and Internet. It is open to high school students of all ages anywhere in Canada. The games began in September on CBC Radio One during drive-home shows in the 4 to 6 p.m. time slot. The playoffs begin taping for CBC Television in November and begin broadcasting in December. The Radio Games feature high schools in 8 designated regions across Canada. 64 regional teams will qualify for the next stage of the show. Winning regional teams from the Radio Games will then travel to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto for the National Playoffs, which will air on CBC Television beginning December 11th. The televised component of SMART ASK! will be a hosted, high-energy, 30-minute show with a DJ/announcer providing the music along with celebrity guests. Sixty episodes will be taped before a live audience in November and December culminating in three prime-time specials showcasing our Champion finalists. Cyber-smart users will be able to play this game anywhere, anytime, thanks to the high-degree of interactivity anticipated on the program's web component at . The SMART ASK! cyber-host will allow users to play against the clock and submit questions for use in the radio and television broadcasts. Hosts for the show are Geoff Gilhooly, host of On The Go in Newfoundland and Mitch Cormier, host of Mainstreet in Saint John. Gilhooly and Cormier share quiz-master duties on alternate weeks as two high school teams go head-to-head in a 15-minute version of the game, broadcast live from either the CBC St. John’s or CBC Charlottetown studios. 128 teams from across Canada have qualified to play in SMART ASK! this fall. The schools were picked from hundreds of entries submitted by high school students from across Canada. The winning schools were chosen based on criteria including originality, creativity and performance. Keep your ears tuned to find out which Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island schools head to Toronto for the National Playoffs.