ALL THE STAR HIGH SCHOOL QUIZ WINNERS
EIGHT school teams that comprise Joburg’s whiz kids will be progressing to the regional competition of the Star High School Quiz competition.
The Star, in partnership with IIE’s Varsity College, launched this competition at Crawford College in Sandton yesterday.
Twenty-two teams from 10 schools around Joburg participated in the competition with each being given 30 seconds to answer questions from five different categories, including politics, sport, entertainment and business.
The teams of four sat huddled together, whispering to each other to discuss answers to the questions that came straight out of the past editions of the newspaper.
Learners quickly shot their hands up to answer the questions. Some pupils even did little dances in their seats confident that they got the correct answer while others hung their heads in confusion because they got it wrong.
The pupils read The Star newspaper every day for three weeks to prepare for the quiz. They would read the paper throughout school day, during lessons, during break and after school to make sure they were ready.
Following a very tense and difficult tie-breaking round, eight teams qualified to move on to the next round. The teams were from Crawford College in Sandton, Michael Mount Waldorf School in Bryanston, Liberty Community College in Kew, Waverley Girls’ High School in Waverley, King David High School in Randburg, Midrand Primary and High School and Future Nation School in Fleurhof.
Sasha Kerry, a pupil from Michael Mount, said he was not surprised his team qualified because he had worked hard and had answered most of the ques- tions. “I’m excited to make the next round because of the opportunities that this opens and what comes with this; the cash prizes are quite stimulating and it was also just an enjoyable event,” he said.
Nozipho Mabaso from Liberty Community School said the quiz was nerve-racking and they didn’t expect to qualify for the regional competition.
“Most of us here cannot afford the finances to go to tertiary level so I think this will give us a bigger platform to have much more brighter futures if we get the opportunity to win,” she said.
Tanju Ozdemir from Crawford College said that although his team was still in shock that it qualified, they must continue working hard and go for the top prize in the overall competition.
Parents and teachers of the schools were also present during the quiz offering support.
Waverley Girls’ High School history teacher Lucky Zimba said the competition was a good one as it sharpened the pupils’ general and current affairs knowledge.
“Learning and reading is another way of travelling and not everyone has the luxury to travel the world but through the stories that they get in the paper they get to understand the world without them needing to go there,” he said.
Tammy Pannall, a teacher from Crawford College, said her pupils have gained confidence and knowledge of events and current news that they may not have known about.
“I do think they are going to be reading newspapers more and more. I’m also finding that they’re excited about reading which is amazing,” she said.
There will be other quizzes hosted at Future Nation School in Fleurhof today and Lotus School of Excellence in Lenasia tomorrow. The teams that qualify will join the eight teams at the regional competition at Varsity College in Midrand on September 1.
After the regional competition, the qualifying teams will move on to the final competition which will be hosted on September 27.
The winning school will take home R20 000 and a IIE Varsity College bursary worth R150 000. Each team member will win R2 000. The runner-up school will get R10 000 and each team member will pocket R1 000.