Tag: Quiz Bowl

More Quiz Bowlin’

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

October brings with it so many things that I love—cooler weather, cozy nights, quiet mornings, Halloween—but there’s something else:  quiz bowl.

I participated in quiz bowl (we called it “Academic Team” in the public schools) back in middle and high schools, and I coached my school’s High School Quiz Bowl team for many years.  I’ve handed that responsibility off to another teacher, but I still moderate tournaments from time to time, which is fun.

I wrote about quiz bowl back in October 2021; for a full rundown on how the game is played and what it is like, read “Quiz Bowlin’” before proceeding with this post.  It will provide much more context.

Earlier this week, I moderated the South Carolina Independent School (SCISA) Middle School Quiz Bowl Tournament.  It consisted of several “regional” pools of competing schools, with winners proceeding to two semi-final pools.  Two semi-finalists and a wildcard team (based on total points scored) then competed in the finals.

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Quiz Bowlin’

The Portly Politico19 Comments

When I was in high school, I played (poorly) on our school’s Academic Team.  Academic Team basically consisted of answering questions about topics that one might learn about during the course of a college preparatory high school education, covering everything from literature and mathematics to history and sports.  It was basically Jeopardy! for high schoolers.

I was—in all humility—a bit of a phenom in middle school, and was the high scorer for Aiken County, South Carolina my eighth grade year.  Then I went to high school, and the difficulty of the questions and the intensity of the practices increased dramatically.  Turns out there is a huge gap between what a kid is expected to know at the end of middle school versus the end of high school.

Still, my love for Academic Team never waned.  When I started teaching, I immediately volunteered to coach my school’s High School Quiz Bowl team (South Carolina Independent School Association [SCISA] schools call it “Quiz Bowl,” rather than “Academic Team”).  I’ve been doing so for ten years.

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