MIDDLEBURY — With its strong finish at 2016 Vermont-NEA Scholars’ Bowl State Finals, the Scholars’ Bowl team from Middlebury Union High School proved itself worthy to play on a national stage. On April 30, the team will represent MUHS in Chicago in a national competition testing competitors’ knowledge of history, science, literature, fine arts, geography, the social sciences, current events and more areas of study: the National Academic Quiz Tournaments’ Small School National Championship Tournament (SSNCT).
Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. It is the national version of the game that is often locally called Scholars’ Bowl. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.
The SSNCT is the only quiz bowl national championship pitting small schools against each other. Non-selective public schools with enrollments of 500 or fewer in their top three grades are eligible to compete.
The team will consist of Josh Bechhoefer, Dace Eaton, Henry Ganey, Ronan Howlett, and Elias Wyncoop. The team will be coached by Perry Lessing.
Tournament results will be updated throughout the two days of competition at www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-teams.jsp?tournament_id=6602 so everyone can follow along and see how the team does. You can also follow the #ssnct on Twitter.