When the Windham High School Quiz Team was founded eight years ago it had a slow start. For the first four years, it didn’t even qualify to compete in tournaments. But if the most recent Maine tournament is any indication, the team made good use of those years and has learned what it takes to win.
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| Members of the Windham High School Quiz Team gather after competing in a tournament at Gould Academy in Bethel on Oct. 5. From, from left, are Mason Bragdon, Middle Row, from left, are Sage Bizier, Gavin Williams, Colt Etheridge, Ashlynn Cuthbert, Delia Tomkus, Maggie Soule, Gavin McGuigan and Nick Davenport. Back row, from left, are Dom Braley, Landon Laszczak, and Alex Hilmer. PHOTO BY JOHN ZIEGLER |
In addition to the team’s first-rate performance, several individual players stood out. Junior Mason Bragdon was the third highest scorer of the day; Maggie Soule, also a junior, placed fourth; and Colt Etheridge, who is only a freshman, came in fifth. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ziegler said of Colt’s performance, “where a freshman does that well, at least in the first tournament.”
Ziegler, who shares credit with team captain Delia Tomkus, said he’s hoping the Quiz Team’s achievements earlier this month weren’t a fluke and instead portend more wins in the future. “I’m really excited about our team this year.”
“We had a player who was the best player in the state and graduated three years ago,” he said. After that, “my goal was to rebuild,” and he has been doing that. He said he has been working the past couple of years to create a winning team, and he is hopeful his hard work will pay off throughout the season which ends around April. He said the club, that consists of about 24 members, has a good mix of upper and lower classmen, which should leave it in good stead for the upcoming years as well.
Ziegler noted that there are two types of tournaments, those that appear on Quiz Show – a television show that appears on the local PBS station. The Windham team was originally formed to participate in that. Now the club also belongs to the Maine Quiz Bowl Alliance and takes part in Quiz Bowl tournaments. He said he prefers Quiz Bowl as it allows more students to participate. In Quiz Show only one team participates and if they are knocked out in the first round that’s it for the year. For Quiz Bowl, three teams participate in tournaments, they take part in eight to 10 matches during each tournament, and they are able compete in numerous tournaments throughout the year. “I think being a Quiz Bowl team makes a better Quiz Show team,” he added.
Ziegler said there are a wide range of students who participate in the Quiz Team. “We get a variety of students. You would think that the kids that you’d get would be the really nerdy kids. But we get a variety of kids that are good at all sorts of different things. We do get kids who are top of the class type of students who know a lot of things from their classes but we also get a lot of kids who just love knowledge, who just like to learn things. We want to be open to everyone who wants to be involved in it.”
To ensure he keeps a fresh supply of new blood coming, Ziegler actively recruits for members by visiting the middle school and talking with students there about the Quiz Team.
Colt Etheridge, the freshman who performed so well at the Oct. 5 tournament, said that’s how he learned about the club. When Ziegler visited his class “we did a practice match and I found it very fun … the competition was really enjoyable.” He said he likes “learning stuff that I didn’t know even when I get the question wrong.” But when he gets the correct answer, “it feels nice to be right.” Etheridge said he’s having a lot of fun being in the club and plans to continue with it for the foreseeable future.
Sage Bizier is a sophomore who competes with the A team. She said she learned about the club from her father who teaches at the high school. “He said he thought I should try it out, so I did and I liked it.”
“We had a player who was the best player in the state and graduated three years ago,” he said. After that, “my goal was to rebuild,” and he has been doing that. He said he has been working the past couple of years to create a winning team, and he is hopeful his hard work will pay off throughout the season which ends around April. He said the club, that consists of about 24 members, has a good mix of upper and lower classmen, which should leave it in good stead for the upcoming years as well.
Ziegler noted that there are two types of tournaments, those that appear on Quiz Show – a television show that appears on the local PBS station. The Windham team was originally formed to participate in that. Now the club also belongs to the Maine Quiz Bowl Alliance and takes part in Quiz Bowl tournaments. He said he prefers Quiz Bowl as it allows more students to participate. In Quiz Show only one team participates and if they are knocked out in the first round that’s it for the year. For Quiz Bowl, three teams participate in tournaments, they take part in eight to 10 matches during each tournament, and they are able compete in numerous tournaments throughout the year. “I think being a Quiz Bowl team makes a better Quiz Show team,” he added.
Ziegler said there are a wide range of students who participate in the Quiz Team. “We get a variety of students. You would think that the kids that you’d get would be the really nerdy kids. But we get a variety of kids that are good at all sorts of different things. We do get kids who are top of the class type of students who know a lot of things from their classes but we also get a lot of kids who just love knowledge, who just like to learn things. We want to be open to everyone who wants to be involved in it.”
To ensure he keeps a fresh supply of new blood coming, Ziegler actively recruits for members by visiting the middle school and talking with students there about the Quiz Team.
Colt Etheridge, the freshman who performed so well at the Oct. 5 tournament, said that’s how he learned about the club. When Ziegler visited his class “we did a practice match and I found it very fun … the competition was really enjoyable.” He said he likes “learning stuff that I didn’t know even when I get the question wrong.” But when he gets the correct answer, “it feels nice to be right.” Etheridge said he’s having a lot of fun being in the club and plans to continue with it for the foreseeable future.
Sage Bizier is a sophomore who competes with the A team. She said she learned about the club from her father who teaches at the high school. “He said he thought I should try it out, so I did and I liked it.”
Sage said she wouldn’t describe herself as a trivia buff, but “I like to learn about random things.” In addition to learning about new things, Sage said “I like getting to know people that I probably wouldn’t have been able to know. … I like that sense of community.” Also, she said, being part of the club is a lot of fun.
For those reasons and more, Sage said she would recommend that anyone thinking of whether or not to join the Quiz Team to give it a try. <
For those reasons and more, Sage said she would recommend that anyone thinking of whether or not to join the Quiz Team to give it a try. <
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