I teach middle school social studies and coach our school's quiz bowl team in a small town in southeast Kansas. Middle school is a fun age, as my students are stuck between being elementary students and being young adults and are trying to figure out who they are and the kind of person they want to be. My quiz bowl kids are extremely bright, unique, hard-working, enthusiastic students who thrive on learning new things. They are such a fun and passionate group who represent our team, school, and town well at every opportunity.
Our quiz bowl program gives these students a fun place to "fit in" and belong, while doing what they love.
I had the opportunity to begin our school's quiz bowl program from scratch 5 years ago and have been blown away by how much my students gain from being a part of the team - self-confidence, camaraderie, knowledge, and success. My quiz bowl kids love to compete and flex their "muscles" (brains!), just like the athletics teams and deserve the best.
My Project
Quiz bowl is basically "team Jeopardy" with two teams going head-to-head against each other to answer the most questions correctly and quickest, accumulating team points. My quiz bowl students practice for competition several days a week after school by simulating our tournaments, which require a lock-out buzzer system. Our current buzzer system travels to competitions and is used for practices. The participants currently rotate in groups to practice answering questions on buzzers. In the past couple years, our participation numbers have grown, which is fantastic!
A secondary set of buzzers would be beneficial to help prepare our large group of participants for competition.
Additional buzzers will offer more flexibility for our team in practices and tournaments. More students will have the chance to practice on buzzers and gain self-confidence in their showing their knowledge.
Not only do my 7th and 8th grade competitive quiz bowl kids use our buzzer system. After our competitive season is over, I open quiz bowl practices to interested 6th graders for a couple weeks in our "Taste of Quiz Bowl". This gives 6th graders a chance to see what the "buzz" is about and if it is an activity that they want to pursue as a 7th grader.
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