Scholar Bowl Answering Above and Beyond

The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl team has already started their season, and is doing well in tournaments. They have previously placed as the top small school at the Clever Tournament, and sixth at the Glendale Tournament. 

A typical Scholar Bowl tournament consists of the first question being a tossup, in which individuals compete by attempting to answer the question correctly. A member can answer a question correctly and be rewarded 10 points; bonus questions are asked to the team with control. If a question is left unanswered, the other team is given the option to answer correctly. The students who place in the top 10 are individually given medals. Many don’t know that Scholar Bowl is a MSHSAA (The Missouri State High School Activities Association) activity, which means there are opportunities to attend district, state, and even a national competition.

Michelle Wahlquist is the Fair Grove Scholar Bowl sponsor, which includes running weekly practices, deciding the junior varsity and varsity teams, and researching topics to better prepare her team for competition. “Competitive students even work on their own time with quiz bowl apps. Others read up on topics in which they want to improve,” Wahlquist stated while discussing how her team prepares for tournaments. 

Nate Brigman (11) has competed on the Fair Grove Scholar Bowl team for several years. “My favorite part about Scholar Bowl is answering questions in a competitive setting with and against my friends,” Brigman answered in regards to his favorite part of Scholar Bowl. He participates in weekly practices to prepare. Typically they separate into two teams and are quizzed with packets that were previously used in competitions.

Alex Kepes (9) would recommend almost anyone for Scholar Bowl, even though they typically look for people who specifically know a lot about one subject. “My favorite part about Scholar Bowl is the connection with your team. You grow very close with your team in a short period of time. I have made good friends with many upperclassmen that I wouldn’t have been able to connect with if Scholar Bowl wasn’t in the picture” Kepes explains. She describes, “Each week at practice, we prepare for tournaments. We go through practice questions with our teams and learn the information along the way.” Kepes is proud of how their team placed as the number one small school at one of their biggest tournaments this year. She believes their team is absolutely incredible. She stated, “We have another tournament coming up. It is never too late to join!”

The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl team meets on the fourth Thursday during 8th hour. “Anyone who enjoys and is good at trivia should think about joining,” Wahlquist stated, “You don’t have to know everything about everything, just know a lot about something.”

Upcoming Scholar Bowl tournaments include: November 16th at Clever, December 6th at Morrisville (including Adv. History students), and December 7th at Kickapoo.