I recently interviewed Mrs. Garison, Pacer Pingleton,  and Joseph Carroll concerning their upcoming quiz bowl season. Coach of the team, Mrs. Garison, explained what an Academic Team is, “Our academic team is a group of AHS students who compete in quiz bowl games in which two teams play head-to-head to answer trivia questions from all areas of knowledge including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more” She also mentioned the AHS Academic Team is a member of the ALPHA PAC Conference, where they play against six other teams per week for the seven-week season. The last meet will be a tournament to determine conference champions. After conference tournaments, the team competes in the district tournament, regionals, and the state tournament, if they qualify. I asked Mrs. Garison what the benefits are, “The academic team is good for students who enjoy friendly competition and being able to showcase their wide knowledge base." 

I then interviewed Pacer, asking when they practice, “We have a meet every Monday and practice after school on Tuesdays," Pacer replied. “This is my third year participating in our school's academic team and I have loved every second of it.” I asked him what his favorite thing was, “My favorite part about it is beating other schools." About what he would change, Pacer responded with, "Our conference does middle school level questions, which doesn’t prepare us for playoffs, so that’s the only thing I think I would change about it” 

Lastly, I spoke with another member, Joseph Carrol, “I have been in the Atoka Academic Team for two years,” he stated.  Joseph added, ”My favorite thing is using random knowledge and recalling information off the top of my head."