American high school students who have won a nationwide academic competition will travel to Türkiye soon.

The winners of the 24th annual “Academic WorldQuest” National Competition, organised by the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA), were announced during an award ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, following a two-day event on April 27-28.

Students from Carmel High School in the US state of Indiana claimed first place this year, outperforming teams from across the country in a closely contested competition.

The winning team of four students, along with their teacher, was awarded round-trip tickets to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines’ Washington, DC manager Ismail Ozturk.

Last year’s winners from a different school also received tickets as part of the same sponsorship.

A total of 34 high school teams participated in the competition, which featured 10 rounds of questions covering global topics, including current events, the FIFA World Cup and commodities such as coffee and chocolate.

The competition aims to increase awareness and understanding of global affairs among high school students.