The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Students earn bid to compete in national quiz bowl
Despite an enrollment of fewer than 200 students at Newbury Junior-Senior High School, the accomplishment of its academic team looms large.
The group of six competitors comprising the school’s National Academic Quiz Tournament team earned the honor of competing in the NAQT Small School National Championship Tournament May 4 and 5 in Rosemont, Illinois.
NAQT provides tournament questions, practice material, rules and guidance to all types of quiz bowl tournaments, from small competitions to national championships.
Participation reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests, according to the company.
The quiz bowls, featuring individuals and teams, deal with questions relating to subjects including mathematics, history, literature, science and others.
As part of the Portage County Quiz Bowl League, the Newbury team attended area tournaments during the 2018-19 school year in hopes of receiving a bid to the nationals.
A strong finish at Brush High School’s invitational event in February secured the coveted spot.
Captained by junior Thomas Bond, the team also included seniors Max Plesmid and Caleb Ray and sophomores Greg Bullis, Madisen Millward and Anita Sarkisian.
Newbury Junior-Senior High School teacher Taylor Voelker served as coach.
Newbury has attended the Small School National Championship Tournament four times before. Most recently,
in 2017, they made the playoffs and finished in 19th place with Voelker’s coaching assistance.
Although this year’s group didn’t rank as high — 62nd out of 80 — students said the overall experience of participating in the finals was a positive one.
“Some of the high points of the tournament for me were getting bonuses and toss-ups right while in the game, quizzing myself on questions while watching the games I was sitting out for, coming back and winning when we were down, and knowing that I was part of a team that was good enough to get into the national tournament,” Bullis said.
Voelker noted that the 2018-19 team was younger compared to those she has coached in the past and that only Bond and Plesmid had previously attended the national
event and thus knew what to expect.
She added that some of the rounds played were close and could have gone either way, but unfortunately not enough wins were gained in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Missing several questions relating to literature was one of the reasons the team didn’t fare better. Voelker said that more preparation on that subject needs to take place in order to improve future scores.
However, Newbury continued to play in a 16-team consolation tournament during which Bond, Plesmid and Ray won two and lost two.
Remaining team members ended up with 1 win and 3 losses in their competitions.
Taking part in individual contests proved to be quite successful for Bond. He ranked 27th out of more than 400 students, easily placing him in the top 10 percent.
“I think what contributed most is my constant search for more information,” Bond said. “I am always looking to learn more, and improve my understanding of people, concepts and places.”
Prior to the tournament the group explored Chicago by visiting the Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Ray has been a team member over the past four years who recently graduated and is heading to college to study architecture in the fall, and he said his involvement with the academia-focused group is something he will always remember.
“(It was) one of my favorite experiences from high school,” he said.
Voelker hopes to provide another team with the NAQT experience in 201920.
“For those who really take academics seriously, the academic team is a great extra-curricular club for them,” she said. “The way the questions are worded they really need to know about that subject to be able to answer them so it is as if they dive deeper into what they already are learning in class.
“It also is a way for students to participate in a school club that (they) might not normally because it does have that academic component to it,” she added. “It looks great on college applications and there are college teams should they want to continue with the program.
“It is really a way for students to show off what they know and what they have learned throughout their education.”