At this year’s All Academic Bowl, students discovered excitement and intense competition, where teams faced off to showcase their academic skills and knowledge. Organized by ASB Academic Commissioner senior Brandon Chang, the competition was held from Mar. 6 to Mar. 9 during lunch. 

The Academic Bowl, a sophisticated bracket-style competition, featured teams of four individuals engaging in intense competition, with a maximum of two academic team members per team. This means that even if a team had only one academic team member, the other three members were still permitted to participate. The competition consisted of 10 toss up questions that were divided among various academic bowls, with two questions each from History Bowl, Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl/Ocean Science Bowl, Math Team, and even two bonus trivia questions. This competition was held to give recognition to people who want to try out for academic bowls next year, to let people who are already in academic competitions use their skills, and to have fun in general. 

“The goal of the competition is to get people who are not in academic teams involved in academic teams. That is why the teams are mixed up. The first day is to get a sense of the competition; the second day is to find the top team, and the last day is for the top team to compete with the teachers,” said moderator senior Ian Chan.  

In the All Academic Bowl, there were specific rules that governed the competition. Toss up questions and bonus questions each carried their own unique point values and time limits – toss up questions were worth four points and allowed only five seconds to answer, while bonuses were worth eight points and had a 20 second time limit. Deliberation was permitted for bonuses only, and each round was eight minutes long, regardless of whether all 10 toss up questions were read.

“This Academic Bowl competition is really cool and allows people the opportunity to show off their skills. I was also able to meet people from different teams,” said sophomore Jolee Kuo. 

The victorious team demonstrated their ability to compete at a high level by taking on a team of teachers, consisting of Mr. Christopher Schultz overseeing the Quiz Bowl, Mr. Christopher Orozco leading the Math Bowl, and Mrs. Cherryl Mynster in charge of the Science Bowl. Although Mr. Paul Green was unable to participate in the History Bowl, he was able to find a qualified substitute, Mr. Michael Freese, to take his place.

“It was so fun to watch the competition. They responded even before the question was finished,” said junior Shuhao Chen. 

The round with the teachers proved to be an exhilarating experience. Initially, the teachers gained a four-point advantage, but the student team managed to catch up and score with a four-point strike of their own. The fate of the round then rested on the bonus question. Although the teachers ulti mately emerged as the victors, the student team was acknowledged for their impressive performance. 

Photos courtesy of Justina Liu