PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP (February xx, 2009) – It’s that time of year again. The eagerly anticipated 11^th Annual DEBORAH Heart Challenge and Art Competition once again hits the stage at Pemberton Township High School on Sunday, February 22.

Will Lenape High School keep their title, which they’ve held for the last three years, or will one of the teams from the other high schools – Shawnee, Cherokee, Seneca, Holy Cross, Rancocas Valley, Moorestown Friends, or Pemberton Township – claim victory?   

            More than bragging rights are at stake. The students are also competing for more than $3,400 in prize money, and top honors in a more than decade-long competition that holds as much prestige for academically-oriented students as the Superbowl does for football. 

            This year’s DEBORAH Heart Challenge and Art Competition kicks off on Sunday afternoon, February 22 in the Pemberton Township High School auditorium, where the best and brightest of Burlington County battle it out in one of the only academic decathlon-type events in the area.

            The Heart Challenge is a unique academic competition that sets the standard for intellectual prowess. The 90-minute competition, emceed by legendary Philadelphia sports personality Don Tollefson, tests its participants on their knowledge of the heart, lungs, and vascular systems – DEBORAH Heart and Lung Center’s three specialty services.

            A distinguished panel of DEBORAH physicians will quiz the contestants first in an individual question round, followed by a team question round, and ending with a ten-minute rapid-fire round done “Jeopardy-style” with fast fingers on the buzzers.

            Along with the Heart Challenge itself is a companion juried Art Competition that showcases imaginative, multi-dimensional, and multi-media artwork created by students at most of the participating schools. Judging is divided into two categories: two-dimensional (paintings, drawings, prints) and three-dimensional (ceramics, crafts, sculpture). The Art Competition winners, who also share in a $1,500 prize purse, are announced during the Heart Challenge.

            The event, which is free to the public, is co-hosted by both the Pemberton Township Schools and DEBORAH Heart and Lung Center, who partnered more than ten years ago and launched the event in celebration of National Heart Month. The rigorous contest has grown and is now one of South Jersey’s premier academic competitions.

            The event has drawn distinguished sponsors from throughout the area including generous support from presenting sponsor Colonial Village Catering & Special Events, with additional support from the Burlington County Times, Lenape Regional High School District, Pemberton Borough Municipal Alliance, Pemberton Township Lions Club, Pearson School/Prentice-Hall Publishing, Dowden Custom Media, LOWE’s Home Improvement Warehouse, the Pemberton Township High School Activity Fund, Willis HRH and Cranberry Blossom Floral Company.

            The doors open at 2:00 p.m. in the Pemberton Township High School auditorium lobby, where visitors can preview the art exhibit and enjoy a free catered buffet by Colonial Village Catering and entertainment by the Helen A. Fort Middle School Musical Theater Club and Pemberton Township High School senior student Brian Spears.  The Heart Challenge begins at 3:00 p.m. The event will also be taped for subsequent broadcast airing on local cable Channel 19 in the Lenape, Rancocas Valley and Pemberton Township viewing areas. For more information call 1-800-555-1990, and for directions to this free event, go to www.DEBORAH.org. In the event of inclement weather the day of the event, cancellation information will be posted on the web site listed, or call 609-894-4181 or 609-893-1200 ext. 5843.