As Schools Match Wits Team Assembled

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This year a team of Greylock students are keeping their wits about them in a unique sort of championship, the popular high school quiz show As Schools Match Wits. The show, now in its 58th season, is produced by the Springfield based public television service WGBY in partnership with Westfield State University. One of the longest running high school quiz shows in the nation, As Schools Match Wits was founded in 1961 with the purpose of emphasizing knowledge over physical ability, and continues to stand by its motto to this day.

The competition draws bright schoolers from all over Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut who compete in fast paced matches that contain several different types of rounds of quizzing. The most common rounds are based on different categories, including Social Studies and Arts, while twice in a match, Lightning rounds force competitors to think fast. The most recent addition to the show is the Challenge Round, played at the beginning of the show, where contestants answer harder questions. The total score is based on points, and teams rack them up based on questions they answer correctly. At the end of all the qualifying matches, the eight highest scoring schools are selected to go head to head in the playoffs, where they are eliminated until one school remains the champion.

Mr. Dils serves as the team’s coach, facilitating the behind the scenes work to help the team run. This includes managing recruitment, providing resources, and coordinating transportation to the studio. He admits that Mount Greylock doesn’t “take it as seriously as other schools do, though we´ve been successful down there and have most often made the top eight.” Although the Mount Greylock team may not undergo the extensive formal preparation that other schools do, Mount Greylock students have a history of independently working hard to get their way into the championship playoff round. Last year, the team came just shy of the final eight, coming in 9th, so Mr. Dils´ goal for this year is to do well in the qualifying round so they can make it back to the playoffs. In the past, Mount Greylock has won the championship three times, in 2011, 2012, and 2014.

Sophomore Victoria Melkonyan, juniors Miriam Bakija and Toby Foehl, and senior Theo Sandstrom have been selected as the members of the new season’s team. Mr Dils looked for a team that balances: “you need to have people who compliment each other well, so it’s nice to have someone who’s got a little sports and pop culture information – you definitely need that history and geography person.” Mr. Dils is pleased that he has achieved variation in his team this year, between some younger high schoolers such as Melkonyan and some older members like Sandstrom who have previous experience with the team, and also believes that the team sufficiently covers all the categories.

The students are equally enthusiastic for the competition, according to Melkonyan: “I’m so excited to be working with Mr. Dills… I’m happy that the team is not too overconfident for the competition.” Greylock will compete against Suffield High School in Connecticut for a qualifying match on March 23 and the episode will most likely be aired in April.