We all know that knowledge can take you far in life. This weekend, the CHS Quiz Bowl team is going to put this theory to the test as they travel to Atlanta, Georgia for the Quiz Bowl National Finals.

The team, which is made up of Micah Austin, Dervla Dolan, Morgan Pontious, and Bennett Shine, won the Capital Area Quiz Bowl League this year. In addition, the team advanced to the semi-finals of WGAL’s BrainBusters tournament on Saturday, May 21.

“I would attribute [our] success to regular practices and each person knowing their strengths and playing towards those areas,” Pontious said.

Quiz Bowl is a “game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge, including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more” according to the NAQT, National Academic Quiz Tournament.

“I’m really looking forward to [this weekend]!” Dolan said. “I think it’s a great way to finish out senior year.”

In addition to all that they have already done, the team is continuing to get ready for this competition.

“We’re going to have a scrimmage with the Cedar Crest team,” Dolan said. “We played them before at Brain Busters and they’re headed to Nationals as well.”

To help with the financial aspect of their adventures, the team is hosting an online trivia night Wednesday, May 25 at 8:00 pm.

It is free to play and anyone can play from anywhere in the world. To play, the “players” must consist of 2 people sitting at the same computer and will receive a Zoom link to the event by 6:00 pm that night; players should log in prior to 8:00 pm.

“After a review of the rules (including absolutely no use of reference materials including phones, maps, and Google), we will commence 4 rounds of questions, each organized by a different member of the team,” according to the Google form for the event. “In each round, players will be randomly assigned to breakout rooms with other players with whom they’ll work as a team to answer a set of questions via a Google Form.”

The questions will be on a variety of topics from ancient history to pop culture. Once time has run out, the contestants will then return to the primary Zoom room to hear the correct answer; they will then be assigned different teammates and continue for four rounds.

The top 4 scorers will then face the CHS Quiz Bowl team in a final round. The 4 finalists will receive a gift card.

“People shouldn’t be scared if they think they won’t get anything right,” Dolan said. “There’s tons of stuff we don’t know either and I think it’s just fun to hear a bunch of weird facts.”

Can’t make the trivia night but want to help out? The team is also accepting donations (of any size) via Venmo (@CarlisleSD) or by check to CHS Quiz Bowl Team co-adviser Matt Fahnestock.

For more information or to sign up click here.