Quest Academy Scholastic Bowl Team Wins Chicago Jr. National Academic Championship

Quest Academy’s Scholastic Bowl team won the Chicago phase of the Eighth Annual Junior National Academic Championship held June 6-8, 2015, at the Sheraton Four Points Chicago O’Hare. Teams traveled and competed from AL, CO, IA, KY, MI, MN, MO, OH, and TX. Quest was undefeated in the three day competition, winning six preliminary rounds and all three single-elimination playoff games. Tournament organizer and former t.v. game show host, Chip Beall remarked, “Making the playoffs in one’s first year at Nationals is uncommon, let alone winning the field.” Question topics covered the full spectrum of a middle school curriculum, including geography, history, art, music, culture, literature, spelling, math, and science plus pop-culture, sports, auditory excerpts, and visual media questions. Co-captain Vikas R. was named the middle school tournament MVP and was joined in victory by Co-captain Vikram M. and teammates Nikita K., Aubrey L., Jacob L., Max L., and Arjun N. Coach Lisa Groh said, “I am so proud of how the students worked together as a team and showed good sportsmanship throughout. It was the culmination of a great year for Quest Scholastic Bowl.” Quest’s performance in the Chicago tournament earned second place nationally out of 76 teams competing in three regional National Academic Championship competitions. They were recognized for the achievement with a trophy, a monetary award, and were named the Rookie Team of the Year. Quest Academy was also undefeated winning two National Academic Quizbowl Tournaments (NAQT) this year and won the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Class A State Championship in 2011, 2013, and 2015.