“An oral statement that is false and intended to damage an individual is known as what?” read Kyle McGimsey.
After just seconds of thinking, Trinity Prep junior Samvit Thakur answers, “slander” as he held up a dry erase board.
“Slander is correct,” responds McGimsey. Five points are awarded to Trinity. This is just an example of the speed required by the Quiz Bowl team.
Quiz Bowl is a competition between high schools that is similar to Jeopardy but played in teams. Students earn points for providing correct answers in subjects that range from English and social studies to math and science.
The teams are separated into groups of four and sit at a round table. As the proctor reads off the question, the Quiz Bowl team must use time sparingly to answer the question before their opponents.
One of the teams’ veterans, junior Sylvia Choo, explained some of the specifics of the season.
“The season typically lasts from late September to early December,” Choo said. “This year, there’s a new system of competition, so we’re playing six schools twice each. Five students compete per round, but we rotate players in between the 5 point and 10 point round.”
She also explained that questions are worth five and ten points. During their first match, the team defeated both Winter Park High School and Lake Highland Prep.
“The Winter Park match was especially exciting because the difference between the scores was only 15 points,” Choo said.
Before the season began, the team practiced once a week. They prepared themselves by quizzing each other on topics they have learned in classes. The questions are considered common knowledge for the team. Questions vary from the simplest such as solving for the cosine of pi to the trickiest physics problem where one must find the acceleration and gravitational force of a single object.
The students are not left alone to prepare for the matches. With the help of their three coaches, Lynn Burmeister, Kyle McGimsey and Paula Phillips, they are well prepared for each match.
Phillips has been a coach for the Quiz Bowl team for eight years. In her last three years of coaching, the team has finished first in the district twice, third once, and Sylvia Choo and Sam Leavitt qualified for the All-County Quiz Bowl team.
Like all other Trinity teams, the Quiz Bowl members have routines and rituals before the matches.
“We all try to get a good night’s sleep the night before,” Choo said. “Nothing ruins memory like lack of sleep.”
Choo also explains one of the stranger rituals of the team.
“We like to draw this little figure called the ‘Death Potato,’” Choo said. The Death Potato was coined by Trinity alums Nat and Sam Goldberg while they were on the Quiz Bowl team.
Students are in school for 35 hours a week. This does not include the countless hours they spend working on homework, projects, and studying for quizzes and tests. Some people crave for their knowledge to be tested even more.
Students that yearn for success are the reason the Quiz Bowl team is so successful.
