History Bowl is an event held once a year in which schools from all over the area compete at Marion C. Early High School February 15th and the 16th.
Michelle Wahlquist, an English teacher and the scholar bowl sponsor, Chanda Lemon, the librarian and book club sponsor, and Amy Johnson, a social studies teacher, are all taking students on the trip this year. “With this history bowl competition, schools can bring any number of teams with a maximum of six players actively competing at the team table. The general categories are sent to the participating schools in order to prepare,” Wahlquist explained.
This year’s topics include things about Ancient Egypt, U.S President Families, Civil War in Missouri, Modern Olympics and other subjects.
Wahlquist shared, “Each table is given a score sheet for the 10 that are presented on the overhead screen. Teams work together to answer the questions (with no technology allowed). At the end of the round, answer sheets are collected and tallied and the process is repeated until all 12 rounds have been completed. The team with the highest score wins.”
The competition is divided into two days for both large schools and small schools. According to Wahlquist traditionally there are approximately 50 high school teams and approximately 20-25 middle school teams each day. Trophies are awarded to the top three teams in both middle school and high school divisions each day.
History bowl is offered both in high school and middle school here at Fair Grove. Mrs. Lemon, who is in charge of the middle school teams stated, “I always tell students to give it a try and if they enjoy playing trivia games more than likely they will have fun competing with their friends as a team. Marion C. Early also serves a great BBQ lunch for all of the students.”
Wahlquist who is in charge of taking a team of middle schoolers recommended, “If history is your strong area of study, or you just like it, talk with your history teachers about competing in the future. Our history department has taken some teams to the Bolivar competition in the past.”
Aiden Cooper (12) is a member of the History Bowl for the high school. Cooper stated, “I am involved because I have always loved history. When I was around eight years old, I started researching every United States president and Supreme Court head Justice”
Nathanal Waggoner (12) another student involved with history bowl stated, “I’m involved in history bowl because I simply love history. I mean the idea that history repeats itself is pretty crazy and therefore we should learn from it.”
The History Bowl teams along with Johnson’s advanced history class will be heading to Marion C. Early February 15th and 16th to compete alongside other small schools.
