Knightly News

As the world mourns the loss of Jeopardy!’s Alex Trebek, several Episcopal students are participating in competitions similar to the famous television game show. Members of the Episcopal Quiz Bowl team are incredibly bright and passionate about learning and that passion has paid off with impressive results this season. The team has already earned third and second place finishes at the Tal Atkins Memorial Tournament hosted by Caddo Magnet in Shreveport and the Louisiana Quiz Bowl Association Fall Tournament. With tournaments taking place online this year, these prodigies have the opportunity to compete in many more.
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Preparing for a Quiz Bowl competition is similar to other team experiences. Just as athletes strengthen their muscles by lifting weights, quiz bowlers flex their brain power by running mock drills. Nine members of the team recently stayed after school on a Friday to answer questions on everything from evolutionary biology to French philosophers. Team leader Alex Nelson explains what makes the effort so rewarding. “Even before I knew Quiz Bowl existed, I always enjoyed learning (mostly useless) trivia that I could apply when solving crossword puzzles or that I would learn in class. I find it fun to learn trivia beyond what we’re taught in the classroom – although some of my past classes have certainly helped me answer questions – or beyond what is conventionally useful. (It might help that I have the tendency to get lost in endless rabbit holes on Wikipedia and to just keep reading about tangentially related topics.) To put it more succinctly, I find it very fun to learn something new – or, more often than not, many new things – with every practice.”

​Even with the students’ natural inquisitiveness, it’s important to have a strategy. Quiz Bowl coach Dr. Billy Pritchard says each student is assigned a major area of specialization, such as literature, social studies/history or STEM and a minor specialization such as current events, philosophy, music, art or mythology. “A given student is responsible for mastering their major and minor fields,” he says. “Once they have, they can pick up an additional field.” Nelson says literature is her strong suit, although she is also learning more about visual art, music and philosophy. “Like many of the other members of Quiz Bowl, I am also able to answer a decent number of social studies and history questions and, at times, some science and math questions,” she says.
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In addition to satisfying a quest for knowledge, Quiz Bowl has other benefits. Team member Justin Dynes explains more. “I think the number one thing that draws me into Quiz Bowl is definitely the sense of community that has grown over the past year. I have become close friends with many other people in Quiz Bowl through our practices and our meets. We even have some inside jokes that have grown over the years.” Dynes, who tries not to focus on just one topic area, says lately he has had success with science and math questions by using what he picked up in AP Chemistry and AP Calculus.

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2024-2025 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.