by Taylor Massey
On January 13, the Republic High School History Team showcased its knowledge at the Morrisville Tournament. While nervous and merely hoping for a good time, the team was able to find success and place fourth out of a large pool of schools.
The Morrisville History Bowl has been an annual event for quite some time, but this is the first time in recent years that the RHS History Team has attended. The tournament was a two-day event, where large schools attended on January 13, and small schools attended on January 14. There were over 30 “large schools” that the RHS team competed against on Thursday, and over 100 teams in the entire tournament.
The organization of the tournament was very different from competitions that other clubs, such as Speech and Debate or DECA, participate in. The six students from the RHS team, Braden Lester, Gage Fisher, Jackson Haralson, Oleksandra Nevestyuk, Chantal Ogbeifun, and Collin Chastain, sat at a table in a gym with all of the other teams attending. From here, they answered questions on various historical events and topics.
“There are thirteen rounds with ten questions each round, and the topics differ each round; for example, world capitals, World War II’s Eastern Front, and the Industrial Revolution. At the beginning of each round, they hand out a packet with the questions and we’re given about five to seven minutes to work with our team and answer them to the best of our ability. At the end of each round, the scores are tabulated and they update us with the rankings,” said Ogbeifun.
“We did really well starting off and remained in the top three for most of the competition. Unfortunately, in the end, we bumped down to fourth place,” said Chastain.
The team has just recently participated in the tournament, but they find that being on the team means more to them than the competition. Chastain, a senior, just joined the club this year and has already had an incredible time with the other members of the team.
“This is the first year I heard of the history team and I am disappointed I didn’t know about it sooner. I thoroughly enjoy being on the team because there is a camaraderie on this team that I do not experience in any other sport or club. I also really enjoy the relaxed competition of the history team. There is no real pressure to do amazing,” said Chastain.
Ogbeifun agrees and also enjoys how the club has allowed her to expand her knowledge of new subjects.
“I love being able to learn about things that I hadn’t known before. Also, being surrounded by people who have a mutual interest in history is nice because there is always something to talk about. The people on our history team are great, very intelligent people who push each other to maximize their knowledge,” said Ogbeifun.
The team is unsure of when they will be able to participate in their next tournament due to COVID-19 concerns, but is hopeful it will be soon.
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