Upper Dublin Quiz Bowl Takes Fourth in State

On May 7, the Upper Dublin High School (UDHS) Quiz Bowl team tied for fourth place in Pennsylvania in the 2011 State Academic Competition. Held in Harrisburg, the competition took place on the floor of the House of Representatives in the Pennsylvania Capitol Building.

The group of six students—senior Ben Zauzmer, junior Nate Rifkin, sophomores Seth Carver, Seth Harrison and Nick Wang, and freshman Ben She—is the youngest winning Quiz Bowl team to be fielded by Upper Dublin.

The team's coach, Stephan Heck, is chair of the history department at Upper Dublin High School and has just been named the Upper Dublin Educator of the Year.
 
Quiz Bowl is a school activity that meets every two weeks for an hour after school. The students answer questions in United States history, world history, science, literature and current events.

Students prepare with Heck, answering questions from trivia books and questions he has amassed over the years.

This year’s team built toward its success, taking first place in the Regional Academic Competition April 15 at Spring-Ford High School, a win that secured a place in the state competition. In the final round of the regional competition, the Cardinals defeated two Montgomery County private schools, The Haverford School and The Hill School.

Heck named the team's win at the Montgomery County Championship as one of the year’s most memorable moments. This year's victory makes it five times in the last 11 years that Upper Dublin has won the championship.

Another memorable moment for Heck was making it into the semifinals at the state championship.

“We only compete in this one competition, while many schools have leagues that meet regularly and go to other competitions,” he said.

Heck has been involved with Quiz Bowls for around 40 years, with the last 15 at Upper Dublin High School.

“I have always enjoyed trivia games and shows, and was active in this activity in college,” Heck said.

Heck has many fond memories of his work with Quiz Bowl, which he will take with him as he retires from UDHS this year.

“[I really enjoyed] working with so many astounding students over the years,” Heck said. “I still enjoy matching knowledge with them, and although I am slower, my years help me to keep pace. Everyone [on the team] is treated equally. It is a true meritocracy.”

In reference to this year’s team in particular, Heck said he would most remember the students' performance in the County Competition finals.

“The students really pulled together to win that one,” he said, and added that a unique truism about Quiz Bowl seems to be “that when we substitute someone for another player, the player that is pulled out seems to know all of the answers for the next few questions!”

Heck noted that too many Quiz Bowl teams have a single star. However, this UD team, and many UD teams in general, do not.

“They are truly team players,” Heck said. “Everyone answered questions that enabled us to have the success we did this year.”

Heck will definitely be missed. As Deborah Carver, the mother of one of this year’s Quiz Bowl team members, sophomore Seth Carver, said in an email to Patch, “we love and respect Mr. Heck.”