One of the most anticipated events in Spirit Week gave a chance to the trivia savants of Great Neck North High School to display their extensive knowledge and to fight for their class in front of the whole school. On Thursday, the Quiz Bowl took place in the auditorium of GNNHS during the school day. Quiz Bowl has been a valued, long-time tradition for Great Neck North High School.

The Quiz Bowl, which started as a club in 2006, has been “a very successful run,” says Gilden, “we’ve been county champions, we’ve been regional champions, we’ve gone to Chicago to compete, we’ve been on television, and I think what it does is gives a lot of students a chance to demonstrate that having knowledge is a good thing and it’s something that they can really be proud of.”

The questions cover variety of subjects such as literature, world history, mathematics and current events. The contestants receive main questions in which the first team to press their buzzer has the opportunity to answer first. The leader of each team speaks for his or her team, and if the given answer is correct, the team earns three follow-up questions in which each correct answer yields bonus points.

The competitive nature of the school allows the event to be both valuable and fun. However, the students must not perceive the event as a measure of the general intelligence of each grade.

“While it can sometimes be true, it’s definitely NOT always the case. Intelligence is so much more than just knowing things, and I think that all the grades are filled with intelligent students, regardless of their performance in Quiz Bowl.” says Yoel Hawa, one of the senior competitors.

This year, the competitors in Quiz Bowl from each grade were:

The suspense grew as rumors spread regarding the strength of the sophomore’s Quiz Bowl team. However, the sophomores would face stiff competition in the seniors, who have already proven themselves in last year’s Quiz Bowl event. “I feel pretty indecisive since the sophomore this year are pretty smart.” says Sarah Tsai.

The sentiment proved to be correct as the sophomores sweep the first round of the Quiz Bowl and take the lead. By the second round, the sophomores were in the lead with 250 points, the seniors were in second with 110 points, the juniors were in third with 60 points, and freshmen were in fourth with 25 points. However, the battle of the brains raged on as the seniors fought to take the lead.

Questions spanned a variety of topics, including European history, U.S. Civics, soda brands, technology, film, and music. Trivia surrounding the film Get Out, Norse mythology, and the Middle East conflict kept the teams on their toes.

Despite the broad range of topics, the seniors surged into first place with a score of 350 points by the end of the event. Sophomores, while not answering any question correctly during the second round, remained in second place at 250 points. After a strong showing, the juniors managed to remain in third place with a score of 195. Despite considerable effort, the freshmen remained in fourth place at 75 points.

These were the results from the event:

1. Seniors, 350 points
2. Sophomores, 250 points
3. Juniors, 195 points
4. Freshmen, 75 points

A well-fought battle, Quiz Bowl intensified the clash between classes as the seniors and sophomores brawled for overall first place in spirit week. The juniors fell into third place in Spirit Week, and the freshmen remained in fourth place. The events will continue to increase in intensity as the end of Spirit Week nears; only time will tell which class will come out on top.

Quiz Bowl not only raised stakes for the rest of Spirit Week, but also provided the students of Great Neck North High School with another experience in this game of quick-thinking and trivia. The Quiz Bowl club and event is always open to new members.

“I’d love to have people join the club, we meet every Friday after school in room 105.” says Gilden, “A lot of people come there and at the beginning they’re a little bit intimidated by what’s going on because they don’t know stuff. But if you stick with it long enough, you begin to gather that knowledge and, if you’re willing to be a little bit bold and quick, there’s a really good chance you can be good at this game.”