The National Honor Society (NHS) hosted its seventh annual Quizbowl on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The event, which was originally scheduled to be held in-person, was conducted via WebEx due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

The Quizbowl is an annual trivia competition held exclusively for NHS members to participate in. Members create their own teams of four and try to answer as many questions correctly as possible. The competition would not be complete without its alluring prize: a $50 gift card to SaVino’s for each member of the winning team. This year, there were six teams vying for the prize. The questions were created by the NHS board: President Mia Tetleman, Vice President Manaka Ogura, Secretary Rachel Edelstein, and Treasurer Conor Rogan. They covered a wide range of topics, including pop culture, music, history, and science. Questions varied from “How long was the 100 Years War?” to “What year did Britney Spears release her album ‘Oops! I Did it Again’?”

Despite some technical difficulties, the board members worked hard and figured out how to run the event virtually. They divided the tasks of posting questions, timing the teams, receiving answers, and keeping score amongst each other. The event was moderated by NHS advisor Lenny Bruno. Tetleman said she is proud of how the event was executed. She explained, “Even though it was changed to virtual, students were still able to compete in a fun, collaborative way.”

After some raffle prizes and two practice rounds, the competition began. For the first six rounds, each of the six teams were given two minutes to answer a set of five questions. Each correct answer earned one point. The competition was intensified by the awarding of an additional point for the team who submitted their answers first in each round.

After the conclusion of the six rounds, the two highest-scoring teams were eligible to compete head-to-head in the final round, in which the bonus point for submitting answers first was removed. After a 4-4 tie, another round of questions was given, where there was a 5-5 tie. Thus, a singular and final bonus question was asked and whichever team could guess the closest date to Bruno’s birthday would be crowned the winner. 

When all was said and done, juniors Alyssa Inserra, Andrew Schiller, Ethan Palacio, and Jaden Riera took the lead and won the prize. Seniors Sophia Sullivan, Alessia Scala, Katherine Yadanza, and AnnMarie Mucciacciaro took a very close second place by a loss of only one question. Juniors Kate Chiulli, Regan O’Callaghan, Alex Spector, Jaiden Moreno, and Alexandra Spector took third place. 

Inserra is excited about her win: “I feel amazing,” she said. “It was a fun time, and I enjoyed it a lot even though it was virtual.” Riera agreed, adding, “It was fun to partake, and I’m happy we won the prize.”