A year-round competition gives two Wylie schools the opportunity to get one over on their crosstown rivals in a series of four events.

The Crosstown Showdown Games pit Wylie High School and Wylie East High School against one another in four categories: athletics, academics, fine areas and community participation, said Wylie East Principal Tiffany Doolan. Wylie High Principal Brian Alexander said schools earn points in the competition by scoring the highest number of points over the school year.

Traditionally, the two schools have had the Crosstown Showdown football game as one of the only formal sources of competition between the two schools. This new competition expands on that by turning nearly every campus activity into a chance to put points on the board.

Points are awarded for head-to-head victories in athletics, finishing at the district level for academic competitions, fine arts or athletics and community events. Community events are worth up to 50 points each, Alexander said.

“The inspiration came from the idea of highlighting the wide variety of talents we have on both campuses and throwing in a little friendly competition,” Doolan said. “We also wanted to increase the sense of school pride on both campuses. We want them to be proud of themselves and the work they do to achieve their goals.”

Alexander said the movie “Alley Cats Strike” also inspired the competition because it featured two same-city schools competing against each other for a city trophy.

Additionally, the competition allows for students of all backgrounds to get involved because of the widespread categories in the competition, said Alexander. 

“Essentially all students are involved in the Crosstown games…from the actual event to cheers and chants from the student section,” Doolan said. “We have included just about every group, organization and department we could think of to get the Crosstown Games going.”

For the full story, see the Jan. 25 issue of The Wylie News.