The Tinsley Team Standout Student of the Month: WHS Quiz Bowl Club

With over 70 different clubs offered at Westwood High School, there’s no shortage of extracurricular activities.
 
In February 2023, Ethan Lu (WHS Class of 2024), received an email from Nick Pruitt, asking if he wanted to put together a team from Westwood to play in his organization’s Quiz Bowl tournament, The Mayflower Cup. Despite having played Quiz Bowl before, the format was quite new to Ethan and he felt that it was a big commitment to ask those who had never even heard of the game before to dedicate an entire Saturday (and $90) to play.
 

Quiz Bowl is a team-based academic question-and-answer buzzer game, often likened to Jeopardy, with the exception that clues are designated to a specific person on the team.
 

Ultimately, Ethan managed to find one other guy interested in forming a Quiz Bowl Team – Deepak Viswalingam (WHS Class of 2025). Together, they met and began to go through the process of fulfilling all of the requirements to get administrative approval to establish a new club, including gathering signatures from other potential members. On the last day of the 2022 – 2023 school year, Ethan and Deepak pitched their club idea to Social Studies Department Chair, Mr. Hilton, who gave them the green light and agreed to come on as Faculty Advisor.
 

Initially dubbed “Trivia Club” for broader appeal, the group officially transitioned to “Quiz Bowl Club”, as it solidified its focus. With the foundations laid in the Fall of 2023, the club’s humble beginnings included a shared Google Drive folder filled with ambitious plans for future competitions.
 

The Student Activities Fair marked a turning point, prompting a shift in recruitment strategy. Targeted outreach to individuals strong in specific subjects became the key, leading to the formation of a nucleus of dedicated members: Ethan Lu, Deepak Viswalingam, Jefferson Ji, Ethan Lee, and Jasper Xu.
 

The first club meeting, initially hindered by technical glitches, soon transformed into an interactive session where quiz packets were distributed and members eagerly delved into the game’s rules.
 

“The Mayflower Cup, the competition that originally spurred this whole idea, was hosting an Autumn edition on Saturday, November 18th, which was just a few weeks away from our first meeting. I wasn’t anticipating having our very first competition until maybe Winter, but then I logged onto the Quiz Bowl forum and saw that it was for new teams, so we kicked into high gear and we ended up taking fifth place in our very first competition and qualifying for regionals”, Lu shared.
 

Outside of meetings, the club members are often found making flashcards, brushing up on their weaker subjects, and practicing with one another during their respective lunch periods with the goal of continuous improvement. While small in numbers (at most meetings, you’ll find half a dozen to a dozen members), the players devote lots of time and effort to the game out of their own initiative.
 

“Quiz Bowl is not really a spectator sport, but the guys just inject it with the kind of energy that not even pub trivia could dream of. They’re chomping at the bit, hands raised, ready to slap the desk to answer the questions. I think the best way to really experience it is to join a meeting and either jump in or just watch us”, explained Lu.
 

WHS’ Quiz Bowl Club has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the world of academic competitions. Following their success in the Autumn Mayflower Cup, the club went on to send two teams to Belmont High School on Saturday, December 16th, securing another fifth-place finish and qualifying for Nationals. As they gear up for more competitions, one can’t help but anticipate the bright future that lies ahead for this small but mighty group of Quiz Bowl enthusiasts at Westwood High School.
 

Congratulations to the WHS Quiz Bowl Club for being this month’s Standout Students! Nominate a future Tinsley Team Standout Student of the Month by emailing Diana Bezdedeanu at dbezdedeanu@bestversionmedia.com and if you’d like to give back to your community and sponsor a regular feature in Westwood Living, contact Tom Leyden at tleyden@bestversionmedia.com