Here’s your chance to check into the current scene amongst the “younger set”. Portage County has a regular program of Quiz Bowl competitions hosted by the participating schools–Garfield, Ravenna, Field, Streetsboro, Southeast, Waterloo, Aurora (which also presents the Early Bird Open Tournament), Rootstown and a new (outside) addition, Lake Christian in Hartville. These competitions are held at various locations around the area after school, as well as the County Tournament in February, and each one requires the participation of quite a few people. There are the teams, of course, crazy-smart kids, a little left-of-center, who know the darnedest things, their advisors/coaches who are adept–or at least persistent–at herding cats, the runners & timekeepers& scorers, Mike Schubert from the PCESC who co-ordinates the questions and the statistics and runs the show…and then there are the READERS.
Can’t have the competition without READERS. Somebody has to actually READ the questions, check the answers and make the whole process GO.
It’s not hard. Generally, it’s not contentious (Haven’t seen a fistfight in years). It’s instructive–a chance to learn some really interesting things. It’s a chance to polish up those knobby little bits of knowledge that have been floating around on the edge of your brain all of this time. You don’t have to know the answers, just be able to follow the pronunciation guide on the page and read the correct answer. It’s a chance to see just how much these kids (and yourself) know about a whole bunch of things–American Literature, World/British Literature, American History, World History, Mathematics, Physical Science, Biological Science, Fine Arts, Sports. The alphabet round has answers that all begin with the same letter. The lightning round, as you might guess, goes really fast.
But none of this happens without READERS.
So volunteer! Go to your local high school and sign up. Ask for the Quiz Bowl advisor/coach and leave your name and contact information. Go watch a few competitions just to get acquainted with the format, if you like. Get involved. Volunteer!
James A. Garfield has the first county meet on Thursday, November 29. Sign up today.
