GOOD HOPE, Ala. – The Good Hope High School Scholars Bowl is headed to Chicago to compete for the national title at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Small School National Championship Tournament in April. To qualify and clinch a spot at the national level, each school has to register, attend and compete at additional NAQT tournaments, and according to Tiffiany Ellis, the faculty sponsor of the GHHS Scholars Bowl team, the stakes are high.
“You have to score in the top 15% of all of the competing small schools to qualify for Nationals,” said Ellis. “They have worked hard to get there and we are really excited to go.”
The students gather for practice once a week to cover materials – pop quiz-style questions in varying levels of difficulty on various subjects. Each question is attached to a score, but the faster the question is answered correctly, the higher the point value the team receives. Guessing isn’t necessarily a bad choice if no answers are being given, but guessing incorrectly before the question is finished being asked can penalize a team’s score by a significant five points.
Ellis said NAQT has a very specific format for questioning participants, sharing, “They start with a lead-in, something very vague. As the question goes on, the details get more specific and easier to guess.”
Scholar Mary Ellen Self elaborated on the pressure of a difficult question in a tournament setting, stating, “You want to buzz soon because you know it, and you want to get the extra points, and we have had some close matches.”
A nationals bid for a small school is a monumental achievement, and an out-of-state trip is something that few students experience. But the trip is costly, including travel, food and lodging.
“We’ll have to fundraise to get the money to travel and go,” said Ellis, who, these days, is constantly brainstorming for ideas. “We will have a few coming up and hopefully have a lot of community support.”
Fundraising is never an easy task, but the group is confident they can work together and raise the needed funds, just like they come together on the team.
The students praised their teammates’ strengths and specialty subjects and were also full of praise for Ellis.
“Mrs. Ellis notices when we have something wrong, almost immediately. She pays attention and makes sure that if we are about to cry, or if we’re having a really bad day, she will just let us have a minute, and forget everything exists,” said member Lexi Briscoe.
Said member Samuel Patterson, “Over the years, we’ve all had teachers that have told us that they could be trusted, but Mrs. Ellis is the only one that I could believe. If someone was hurting us, she would help. She makes this a safe space for every one of us.”
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