FORT SMITH — Trinity Junior High School’s 10-member Quiz Bowl Team has taken first place in the Arkansas state championship for five years straight, but this year they have a special reason to celebrate. The team has been invited to the second annual Junior National Academic Championship at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., June 5-7.
They are continuing to practice at least once a week and taking time to brainstorm different fundraising possibilities.
The team hopes to raise $7,500 to pay for the trip.
“They are definitely taking ownership and are very involved,” Tia Marsh, Quiz Bowl faculty advisor, said. “The team ran a tag day on St. Patrick’s Day, charging $2 per student for a free dress pass. The athletic department provided a concession stand at their Sixth Grade Quiz Bowl Tournament to help the students raise money for the trip.”
“We’ve received $2,300 in donations in the past three weeks,” ninth grader Toby Turney said.
In addition to fundraising and practicing for the national competition, the all-male team is actively involved in mentoring elementary school teams. They visit Immaculate Conception, Christ the King and St. Boniface schools weekly to teach their sixth graders and prepare them for tournaments. This year they held a tournament for 12 teams — five from Immaculate Conception, three from Christ the King, two from St. Boniface and two from First Lutheran. First Lutheran took first place and Immaculate Conception came in second. The mentoring program with the feeder schools is helping Trinity build strong Quiz Bowl teams for future years. Subiaco Academy will benefit from Trinity’s strong junior high school program in August when it welcomes two 2009 Trinity graduates — Ethan Falleur and Toby Turney — to its high school Quiz Bowl program.
Trinity’s 2008-2009 tournament schedule included competitions at Trinity, Lakewood Middle School in North Little Rock and Southside High School in Fort Smith as well as regional and state meets.
“We won four out of five,” ninth grader Ethan Falleur said.
Falleur, team captain, was named the MVP in every tournament this season, and he and Toby Turney were invited to participate in the all-tournament team.
Practices simulate actual tournaments, Marsh said. Each team of four has a set of buzzers. When a question is asked, the first person to buzz gets to answer it; all other buzzers are deactivated. There is a penalty for wrong answers, and if a team member answers incorrectly, only members of the other team are allowed to buzz in to submit a second answer. The competition, consisting of tossup questions, bonus questions and lightning rounds, is timed. If there is a tie at the end of the competition, the event goes into overtime. At the national competition, only two ninth graders at a time will be allowed to play on any four-person team, so Marsh will have both eighth and ninth graders competing. She expects that at least 10 students and two adult chaperones will make the trip.
Quiz Bowl players need to have fast reflexes as well as quick recall. The subjects can include literature, history, science and math, social sciences, fine arts, geography, religion and general knowledge. The team might even be asked to answer questions on pop culture, sports and current events.
One of the highlights of the trip will be the opportunity to spend a day at the Smithsonian, a place where students can explore up to 19 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo. The team is also contacting its legislators to see if they can arrange a tour of the Capitol.
The state champions have now added a new category — travel in Washington, D.C. — to their research curriculum and are looking forward to the chance to use their knowledge.
