The 33rd annual Scholastic Bowl competition took place at the Glendale Performing Arts Center on March 6, 2023. The team representing Glendale High School competed against Clark Magnet High School, Hoover High School, and Crescenta Valley High School. Similar to last year’s competition, audience members were able to watch the event in person or live-stream it from the comfort of their homes.
The esteemed news anchor, Araksya Karapetyan was invited again to serve as quizmaster, after doing such a wonderful job last year. After a rigorous competition, the team representing GHS ultimately came in first place and brought the trophy home for the second-straight year.
Our GHS team members were Gabrielle Arreglo, Eric Petrossian, Ryan Whitford, Tiffany Duarte, and Cohen Lim. This year’s team was coached by their advisors, Ms. Kelly Palmer and Ms. Sarah Morrison.
The competition was divided into three parts: a timed essay portion, a team answer round, and an individual buzz-in round. The timed essay was completed a week before the competition, so the scores were announced at the start of the event. The scores between the schools were close, with CV leading at 32 points, Clark at 30 points, GHS at 29 points, and Hoover at 28 points. This made CV the winner of the essay portion, earning them the essay trophy and a slight advantage with points to begin the game.
For the first round of the competition, the team answer portion, the audience was sitting in anticipation, as the lead changed constantly between GHS, CV and Clark. Our Nitro team was greatly supported by teachers, family members, and classmates, who cheered them on with optimism every time the team scored a point.
When the individual buzz-in round commenced, GHS quickly surpassed the other schools and built a substantial lead. The members of the Nitro team stayed steadfast in pressing their buzzers and answering the questions accurately. The competition then ended with GHS finishing first with 78 points, CV came in second with 67 points, Clark finished third with 65 points, and Hoover came in fourth with 37 points.
After the winners were announced, District officials congratulated the teams from each school one last time, as they posed for final pictures. Additionally, on top of the trophies for the winners, every member of each school’s Scholastic Bowl team received scholarship money from the event’s generous sponsors.
GHS Scholastic Bowl captain, Gabrielle Arreglo, was overall thrilled by the victory. “I was very pleased with the outcome and surprised by the margin of which we won,” she expressed. “It was a nice feeling of victory, but I’m also very excited for the future. I hope that the future [Nitro] teams also do well and spread the love of learning.”
The GHS community is proud of our team members and their dedication to this year’s competition. Many hours, both after school and during weekends, were spent collaborating on practice essays and testing each other on various topics. As our senior team members, Gabrielle Arreglo, Eric Petrossian, and Ryan Whitford, finally graduate, we can’t wait to witness the bright future of our Scholastic Bowl squad.
Keep learning, Nitros!
