An academic challenge on black history from Frederick Douglass to Oprah Winfrey will test some of the brightest students in Howard this weekend. The third annual Howard County Black Saga Competition will feature42 students from 13 elementary and middle school teams in a multi-round competition.

“The program works well for us, because it has ties to our social studies curriculum and lets students discover more about the African-American experience,” said Kim Reichardt, coordinator of the event and a gifted-and-talented resource teacher.