Academic Challenge is a competitive extracurricular activity in which students must quickly answer trivia questions. Many schools across the nation have an academic challenge team, making it the rigorous activity that it is.
University School’s Academic Challenge team is coached by Mr. Gallagher as well as Dr. O’Neil. The team gathers to learn potential trivia questions, and to form a good strategy for answering questions.
“It is similar to Jeopardy,” says captain Warren Coleman, “in that you are asked questions about topics you’ve learned in school or at least touched on in school. Usually if you’ve paid any attention in class you can answer a few of the questions.” However, unlike Jeopardy, Academic Challenge questions are extremely long; the beginning of each question starts out rather vague and gets more and more specific towards the end. The team to answer the question first gets the points. Therefore, the initial vagueness of most questions adds to the challenge.
Our team competes at tournaments where we face off against other schools. At these tournaments, teams of four are put into a bracket. Teams fiercely fight to win each competition and advance through the bracket. Recently, at the Solon tournament, our Varsity team came in first place in the consolation bracket and the JV team won third place in the round-robin.
Academic Challenge rounds are usually formatted in the same way; there are 20 “big questions” or toss-ups. As the reader states the question, anyone on either team may “buzz in” if he or she believes he or she knows the answer.
If he or she is correct, his or her team gains ten points and receives an opportunity to answer three bonus questions, valued at ten points apiece. Additionally, if the respondent answers before a certain point in the question, he or she receives a “power” and gains 15 points instead of the usual ten. However, if the respondent provides an incorrect answer, his or her team may not buzz in again and typically loses five points. If neither team can produce an answer, the bonus questions for that round are lost and the reader moves onto the next toss-up. Finally, at the end of the round, the team with the higher score is named champion.
One student in Academic Challenge expressed his experience. “People should join academic challenge as it can enhance one’s ordinary school day. Aside from the fact that it challenges the mind, it is also good fun!” says freshman Neel Agarwal. “If you are interested in joining the team, just show up in Mrs. Fazio’s room on Monday or Thursday after school! All people are encouraged to come!”
Academic challenge is a great way for curious students to gain a lot of knowledge in a competitive and fun environment.