Quiz Bowl Team takes District SkillsUSA Tournament

February 18, 2011 - The North Technical Quiz Bowl team is once again on the move. After winning its first SkillsUSA Tournament in early December, it was time to see if Kayla Alexander, Jeremy Blanchard, Diamond Holt, Stepheon Kaiser, and Juliam Sanders could succeed at the next level of competition. February’s District SkillsUSA contest, held at South Technical High school, pitted North Technical against the likes of Bayless, Maplewood, Clyde C. Miller Academy, Three Rivers, Lewis and Clark, and host school South Technical.  The competition tested the 5 member teams on their ability to rapidly answer questions in the areas of academic knowledge, professional development and current events. Teams received a point for a correct answer and lost a point for each incorrect answer. After 4 hours and 100 questions, it was the team from North Technical that came out on top by triumphing over its competitors and earning the right to represent the district at the State SkillsUSA Tournament which will be held at Linn State Technical College in March.
          As one can easily imagine, preparation for a Quiz Bowl is not necessarily an easy task. Members must be prepared to answer a broad range of questions from a variety of subject areas including current events, pop culture, math and science, geography, literature, history, mythology, sports, and much more. The recent success of coach Jan Bierman’s Quiz Bowl teams over the past three years comes from a regiment of commitment, study and preparation.  The team meets with coach Bierman every Tuesday and Thursday to review topics and current events which they anticipate could come up during the competition. The work seems to be paying off.  Last year’s team took second place in the District Competition, and  two years ago a five member North Technical team won the State Competition and proudly represented Missouri in the National SkilsUSA Tournament, a feat never before achieved in the school’s history.  The current crop of Quiz Bowl members will see if they can duplicate that feat at Linn State Technical College in late March.  Congratulations to coach Bierman and the 2010-11 Quiz Bowl team on their victory!