It’s Academic! T.C.’s Scholastic Bowl Team Advances

T.C. Williams Heads to the Super-Regional Competition

T.C.’s Scholastic Bowl Team: Kelly Jones, Jonah Horowitz, Zeke Farkas, Meredith Lemke, Mark Bailey (kneeling), Isheka Agarwal, Stefanos Psaltis-Ivanis, Matt Zahn (coach) (Photo courtesy of ACPS)

ALEXANDRIA,VA–They were undefeated at district-level competition of the Virginia High School League, came in second at the regional level and will compete this Saturday, Feb. 3, in the C-D Super-Regional.

The Scholastic Bowl is a fast-paced question-and-answer academic competition that promotes learning, expands horizons and rewards teamwork.

T.C.’s team is made up sophomores, juniors and seniors: Isheka Agawar, Mark Bailey, Jackson Dupont, Zeke Farkas, Griffin Harris, Jonah Horowitz, Kelly Jones, Meredith Lemke, Stefanos Psaltis-Ivanis, Madeline Waldhoff and is coached by English teacher Matthew Zahn.

In addition to participating in the VHSL Scholastic Bowl, the team also competes on the television program “It’s Academic.” If you tuned in on Saturday, you got the pleasure of seeing them compete. (Photo courtesy of ACPS)

T.C. breeds a number of star athletes and athletic teams, including this winning team of academic athletes. It’s a thrill to have seen them compete on “It’s Academic” and then root for them this coming weekend as they compete in the Super-Regionals. Titan pride!” said T.C. Williams Principal Peter Balas

The students participate in a Jeopardy-style game where the first person to buzz in answers the question. In the first round, scoring is tricky. The team gets 10 points for a correct answer, but looses five points if they buzz in early or get the answer wrong. And, if they get the answer wrong, no one else the team can answer the question, giving the advantage to the other team.

The second round is team directed. Each team gets 10 questions and may confer with each other before answering each question. If the team gets it wrong, the other team may answer. A correct answer is worth 10 points. The third round is a repeat of the first.

The team meets Wednesday and Friday mornings to play practice games. To get ready for competition, they host a scrimmage against T.C. teachers once per quarter.