Do you like the shows Jeopardy, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth grader, and The Chase? If you do, then check out Scholar Bowl. Even if you are involved in other extracurricular activities, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover Scholar Bowl is very flexible to your schedule. And even if you don’t know all the answers, this team has one go-to favorite when in doubt: the Patriots.

   Scholar Bowl is an academic competition that questions students in four core areas: math, science, history, English, along with fine arts, current events, sports and pop culture. To prepare for the tournaments, students go through lots of practice rounds they might see at the event.

   “The practices are very similar to the stuff we do in the tournament, but it depends on who’s there during the practice,” freshman Ashna Ali said. “Sometimes it is split into teams of boys versus girls or we just have individual teams of both.”

   The Scholar Bowl team usually attends one tournament a month that is held on a Saturday.

   “Most tournaments you play three games in the morning,” teacher Karla Schaeffer said. “In some tournaments, all teams come back and play more games in the afternoon, but sometimes they knock people out, based on win-loss records after the morning rounds and then it becomes elimination in the afternoon.”

   Just like in most activities, doing well cheers not only an individual up, but also the whole team.

   “Getting a question right feels great because they are so broad,” junior Sam Straub said. “Also, when I see my teammate getting a question right that was out of the blue and I didn’t expect them to know it surprises me and it is really cool.”

   The knowledge of the team varies between each member. They all have subjects they are best at and their individual strengths balance the team. However, it is not always easy.

   “We never can get the sports questions,” Straub said. “That’s why on the front of our shirts; it says Patriots because we know the Patriots are a sports team. That’s our go-to answer for all of the sports questions.”

   Being positive is a trait that always helps while competing in a tournament.

   “When I first joined the Liberty Scholar Bowl team my sophomore year, we would be middle to lower middle of the district; we’ve risen since then,” senior Roman Accardi said. “Last year, we placed second in the district. I really think that we could be first in the district this year.”

   Not only is Scholar Bowl an academic activity, but also the members find it enjoyable and helpful in life.

   “Scholar Bowl is very fun and intense, that’s what I love about it,” Ali said. “It also helps you learn more in school and looks good on college applications, because a lot of colleges want people who were involved in school activities and clubs that help with learning and education.”

For more information on Scholar Bowl visit here