Twenty students are gathered in a C3 classroom on a Thursday at 3:20 pm. Carley Kregness, a social studies teacher volunteering her room for the meeting, tries to get things started.

“People who know what they’re doing, stand up,” calls out Kregness.

Five boys all stand up and go to the front of the room. They introduce themselves as the club’s veterans.

Junior Elliot Schwartz starts to explain the rules of the game and the procedures of play.

A large black box is placed on the desk at the front of the classroom.

As the veterans continue to discuss the club, Kregness brings in a new box and pulls out pads, wires and lights.

Let the games begin.

Quiz Bowl competes at the state and local levels in trivia competitions with questions ranging from classical opera to calculus.

The club meets Thursdays after school. At its first meeting, the club saw 15 new members, roughly three times as many as they had last year.

This year, Quiz Bowl also has a new coach, Carmen Garland, who also teaches social studies.

Garland said she has a significant history with Park’s team and as a participant in the activity.

“I was the coach for five years about 10 years ago,” Garland said.  “I had done it in high school and was a new teacher. When the club was looking for a coach, I volunteered.”

Garland said she thinks the rise in numbers of the club is because of student-to-student interaction.

“Lots of new kids came the first week primarily because of word of mouth,” Garland said. “The members have a lot of fun and they talk it up to their friends.”

Senior Maya Raz is a new member of the club and said she is excited about the learning aspect the club has to offer.

“It should help me broaden my horizons of knowledge,” Raz said.“I’ll be able to learn things about subjects I’m not familiar with, which I’m excited about.”