Excitement brews every Thursday after school in C371, as students of all ages put their knowledge to the test for the upcoming quiz bowl season.

Quiz bowl, a trivia contest for high school students, challenges students to correctly answer trivia questions. Students are divided into teams of four and compete against other teams from different schools for a total of 12 season games. Players try to hit the buzzer before the opposing team and answer questions in academic subjects ranging from current events to music.

Adviser Bruce McLean returns for this season of quiz bowl after taking a year off. He said he looks forward to working with students who demonstrate academic success in the subject areas.

“I like the fact that you get the smartest kids in the school to come and participate,” McLean said. “We always have a pretty good time at quiz bowl.”

Many of the students McLean was familiar with no longer participate in the club. McLean said he currently knows only two students on the team.

“It is basically a new group of students,” McLean said. “It will be fun to get to know the new kids on the team.”

Senior Elliot Schwartz said he enjoys quiz bowl as a way to show off his knowledge of literature to his peers. He said his favorite part of participating in the club was the people.

“There is a lot of heart and soul in the quiz bowl team,” Schwartz said. “All of my idols have all been quiz bowl players.”

Schwartz has participated in quiz bowl for the past three years, including when McLean was the adviser. Schwartz said McLean’s return excites him, as he enjoys the way McLean interacts with students.

“I think that one of the cool things is that it is just as much fun for the adviser as it is for students,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said most people on the team are naturally interested in the subject areas. He said he hopes the club will be a way for students to learn more about subjects they are interested in.

“The people on the team last year know how much fun it is, and we just want as many people to join as possible,” Schwartz said.

Junior Zoë Leuthner said she anticipates a rewarding first year of quiz bowl, as she is a new member of the club.

“It is a really nice environment where you still get to challenge yourself academically,” Leuthner said.

In previous years, male students dominated the quiz bowl club with few females participating. This season, the ratio of males to females increased in comparison with other years. Leuthner said the greater female participation parallels the student demographics in the high school.

“I think that it is good that quiz bowl is more representative of our school in that regard. Girls have good knowledge that they can bring to the team,” Leuthner said. “They add diversity and some diversity of interest that can help us better.”

McLean said while the club has mostly been male students, there has always been some female participation.

“We have had girls that have participated well, but we haven’t had as many girls as we have had boys,” McLean said. “It is nice to see more girls participating.”

McLean said the club has qualified for the state tournament in all of his years of advising. He said he hopes the teams will accomplish this goal this year as well.

“Our hope is to always qualify for state,” McLean said. “We always rank among one of the best teams in the state.”