Students from two Kanawha County middle schools are putting their knowledge of history to the test this weekend during the National U.S. Academic Bee and Bowl.
Six students from Andrew Jackson Middle and four students from John Adams Middle arrived in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday for the event, prepared to clash with one another, as well as with competitors from around the country.
To compete in the National U.S. Academic Bowl, a team must first come in the top 50 percent of its regional competition. Students from John Adams and Andrew Jackson did just that, taking first and second, respectively, in the West Virginia Academic Bowl.
History bowls revolve around a lockout buzzer and questions of varying difficulties. The team that buzzes first has the opportunity to answer the question and receive points. If it answers incorrectly, the other team can steal the question and claim the points.
Two students from John Adams also will participate in the National U.S. Academic Bee, scheduled for Sunday. Dawn Combs, the John Adams history bowl coach, said an academic bee involves individual students, rather than a team.
Andrew Jackson teacher and history bowl coach Sara Scott said she is proud that Kanawha County had two nationally ranked history bowl teams.
"I'm just pretty happy we have two teams from West Virginia going," Scott said.
Combs shared Scott's pride in both teams for qualifying in the national event.
"I'm very proud that two schools from Kanawha County are going to the nationals in an academic competition of this caliber," Combs said. "The level is very difficult."
Combs said the John Adams team is prepared to take the national teams and its in-state competition head on. John Adams competed in Arlington last year, ultimately coming in second place. Additionally, Combs said the John Adams team went to the national high school bowl and bee last month, taking 16th out of 102 teams.
Similarly, Scott said that Andrew Jackson has been preparing for its national competition, as well as for its local rivals at John Adams.
"I know their team is great," Scott said, "but we've been working hard, and I think we'll do pretty well."
Scott said the future of the Andrew Jackson team is dependent on finding new students to fill the shoes of eighth-grade students moving on to the high school level. Andrew Jackson also is setting a goal to qualify for future national competitions, she said.
"Once you go, you have to keep going and make that something they can look forward to and work towards," Scott said.
Combs said the Arlington competition won't mark the end of the year for John Adams. In June, the team will travel to Chicago for another national competition.
While she's excited for both West Virginian teams attending, Combs said she wants to see a greater participation in history bowls from schools in the state.
As a volunteer who established a quiz bowl team at John Adams after her son became interested, Combs said that starting and running a history bowl team hasn't been difficult, and she encourages other parents to get involved.
"The kids are very motivated," she said. "They do all of the studying and the reading, and it just takes a parent to run the practice sessions."
Academic activities such as history bowls should be promoted in middle school and high school, Combs said, because they can be a serious boost for students when applying for college.
Reach Jared Casto at jared.casto@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4832 or follow @JaredCasto on Twitter.