Students and teachers who filled the auditorium saw a senior class victory during the annual Black History Bowl. The event, in which each class selected three students to compete, was held during an extended W4 on March 13. Students had been practicing with there coaches for weeks leading up to the event.

“I’m just so happy and proud of the guys,” social studies teacher and senior class coach Joel Jepson said. “Their fun attitude belies the hard work that was put into winning.”

The seniors won the event with 200 points, followed by the freshmen at 140. The juniors and sophomores tied for third place with 80 points each.

Teachers had to sign up for the event in order for their W4 class to gain attendance. Some reported that just a few hours after the e-mail with the sign-up was sent out, all of the slots were filled. The bowl was originally supposed to be held in February during Black History Month, but it was rescheduled because the coaches wanted to hold it during a full W4 period to get higher rates of attendance. Jeremiah Davis hosted the event and asked the questions.

The categories were African Americans in the fine arts, African American scientists and inventors, the Tuskegee Airmen and African American music. Students were allowed to switch out representatives between rounds. The event concluded with an audience participation round, in which two students were awarded with chocolate for their correct answers.

“It’s a really fun and exciting event,” senior representative Freddie Johnson said. “It’s a good opportunity for the student body to learn more about Black culture.”

One issue that all participants encountered during the competition was buzzing in their answers. All contestants were supposed to wait until Davis rang a bell, but participants buzzed in before the bell rang, disqualifying their team from the round. Others were more experienced with buzzing, such as sophomore Amelie Trieu.

“I already do It’s Academic and the History Bowl, so I thought I would broaden my horizons,” Trieu said. “I know [senior representative Andy Tran’s] method, so I know what is going to happen.”

Trieu and her fellow sophomores were trained by health teacher Peggy Capehart. The junior coach was history teacher Kelly Bishop and the freshman coach was social studies teacher Meghan Saladino.

Each contestant received a packet of facts before the competition and questions were solely based off of information provided within the packet. Additionally, they were provided with a list of African American singers, whose music they had to research. Overall, Jepson was very pleased with the event and especially with his team.

“They’re just so fun,” Jepson said.