NEWS RELEASE:

NORTH ROBINSON — In January, the Colonel Crawford High School Academic Challenge team qualified for the Small School National Championship Tournament by finishing in the top 30 percent of small schools at a local varsity NAQT tournament held at Mid-Ohio Education Service Center.

Quiz bowl is a competition of questions and answers, played by teams and using buzzers.  Questions are read, and players buzz in (without consulting) when they think they know the answer.  If they give a correct answer, they earn points plus three bonus questions in which they can work with their team to earn additional points.  Depending on how quickly they answer the question, they can earn additional points, but if they answer it incorrectly before the completion of the question, they lose points.  Questions cover a wide range of academic topics, but there are also questions about pop culture, sports, and current events.

Once Colonel Crawford qualified for nationals, the students collaborated as a team to create a presentation for Superintendent Todd Martin to present the benefits of them attending the NAQT national tournament.  The Colonel Crawford Academic Boosters Club provided a grant to cover the tournament fee and, with the help of the CC Board of Education, the team’s transportation and lodging fees were covered.

Before qualifying for nationals, the academic challenge team comprised of Sydney Studer, Elizabeth Striker, Caden Trubee, Nick Barnes, Nathan Wingert, and Mason McKibben practiced for 30 minutes each week, but once the students had the vision of nationals they increased their practice days to three or more days a week.  During their practices, coaches Danielle Clime and Krista McKibben would read previous tournament questions to help them adjust to the wide variety of content.  Students also started reading more reference books about key categories (art, literature, etc.) that they needed to increase their knowledge.

On Saturday, April 28, the team competed in the tournament at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, which is a suburb just west of Chicago. The team played in ten 18-minute rounds and ended the day with a record of 4-6. Unfortunately, the team did not qualify for the tournament on Sunday, but they were able to compete in competitive tournaments to get more practice in.

Competing in the tournament was a great way for the Academic Challenge students at Colonel Crawford to represent their school on the national level.