Wauneta-Palisade Schools

WP 3rd at ESU 15 Junior High Quiz Bowl

Jen Loker on March 19, 2018

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WP's JH Quiz Bowl members were nominated based off of academic performance by their History, English, Mathematics, and Science teachers. This year we had 10 students nominated (normally I can only transport 8 since that is what fits in our largest school suburban) and thanks to RanDee Littrel, who helped drive students, we were able to take all 10 to the competition. Only 6 students can compete during each round so students were rotated in and out, with the exception of our team captain who participates in every round. This year our team captain was 8th grader Olivia Behrends. Olivia did a fantastic job as our team captain. She handled the responsibility very well, and she successfully answered just over 50% of the toss-up questions that we won throughout the day. Also competing on the team were 8th graders Garrett Hanna, Ruel Malcolm, and Grant Walker, along with 7th graders Kyle Jutten, Jacksen Littrel, Dalton Miller, Joshua Starnes, Chloe Stehno, and Peyton Vrbas. Team members Kyle and Jacksen also successfully answered 15% each of the toss-up questions won by WP throughout the rounds and Grant, Ruel, and Dalton helped win the remaining toss-ups. After a team successfully wins a toss-up question, valued at 5 points, the team earns a bonus question, valued at 15 points, during which the team may consult with one another before the team captain provides the final answer. It was fantastic to see each and every team member contributing during the bonus questions; they worked very well together. Of the various subjects that students are quizzed in, our team's strongest area was science, followed by history; 80% of the toss-up questions we won were in these two categories. Our team also successfully answered toss-up questions involving Art, Music, and English. Unfortunately the only Math questions that appeared during the competition were during bonus questions, and we only had an opportunity to answer 2 math questions throughout the day. I really believe that Math is also one of our students' stronger subjects and I know that they would have excelled in this area had they received more questions in this area.

With regards to the rounds, we played a total of 6 rounds and had one bye round. Our team started off very strong dominating Hayes Center 50-5 in the first round, edging out Southwest 35-20 in the second, and winning decisively over the eventual 1st place team, Medicine Valley, 35-10 - in fact, WP was Medicine Valley's only loss of the day and ended with a 5-1 record. The next few rounds were challenging as we lost 10-20 against Hitchcock and 15-35 against Maywood, who claimed second with a 4-2 record. In their final round against Dundy County Stratton, it appeared as though we were headed for a loss when DCS was up 0-20, but then something lit up in our students and we went on a run, stealing the win with a 35-25 score. Our final record was also 4-2, which initially had us tied for second place with Maywood, but unfortunately since we lost to Maywood in the head-to-head competition, we were bumped to third. Needless to say, I am very proud of this year's team. They were eager, coachable, and worked hard to show off their skills. It was also fun to watch the other teams' results as going in to the final round we had a bye. I remember checking the standings and seeing that Medicine Valley was 4-1, Maywood was 3-2, Hitchcock was 3-2, and Southwest was 3-2; it was a close competition that was ultimately decided during the 7th round and all we could do was sit and wait. Overall it was a very exciting day and I am proud of how this team represented our school.