On Mar. 17, the academic teams—the fine arts, history, math, english and science— competed at Kokomo High School. The History, Science and Fine Arts teams got second place while the Math and Science teams got first place.
Junior Saylor McClain explains what has helped her prepare for competitions.
“I’ve been trying to attend practices, communicating with my time and reviewing materials as much as I can,” McClain said.
Junior Nathalia Hernandez describes how she prepares for the academic competitions.
“I am preparing myself for academic competition by studying the material provided for me,” Hernandez said. “I am in both math and history bowl, so I feel like both subjects have plenty resources whether online or from what our coaches gave us.”
English academic coach April Beene says how she prepares her students for a competition.
“I prepare students for competition by having discussions on the text selected,” Beene said. “Sometimes, I’ll explain a poem or a literary technique in some depth, but I believe for students to really understand the material, they need to think it through themselves and discuss it with others. We also practice competition-style questions during our practices.”
Preparing yourself for a competition can be difficult, yet there are many strategies for coming up with the best outcome.
“I think simply studying every day and looking over practice questions are the best thing you can do,” McClain said.
Some students believe that the best way to prepare themselves is to learn the subject and practice.
“I think the best way to prepare myself for the competition is to know the knowledge or processes to work things out to the best of my abilities,” Hernandez said. “If I can put my best foot forward, my teammates will make it easier for me.”
Though, many things can affect the outcome of academic competitions complete confidence is key.
“There are a lot of different factors that play into how we perform. The texts are typically challenging, and the quality of questions vary a lot from year to year,” Beene said. “But I am always impressed by how well my students do and how well they dedicate themselves to learning this challenging material.”
Though, it can be tough to fit in practices especially when you have other activities.
“Personally, because of my involvement in other activities, I haven’t been able to attend that many practices,” McClain said. “I can say that not attending practices leaves you very unprepared.”
Some students’ schedules might not be as flexible as others though, they might not attend many practices, but they still study at home.
“Being an athlete has caused me to miss many of the available activities,” Hernandez said. “I have missed many practice competitions, but I make up for all of them by studying in the meantime. That way, I’ll be ready for the real deal and not drag my team behind.”
Some coaches are using specific strategies to ensure their students do well by depending on the group of students they have.
“The last couple of years, my students on the team have been more reserved but just as dedicated,” Beene said. “With my more social groups, I often put control of the meeting in those students’ hands. With more reticent groups, I take more of a lead in practice. But in the end, it always comes down to them at competition, and they always impress me!”
Students have explained that working as a team can help take the load off of your shoulders.
“It helps because you can divide the material among your team and also everyone else’s opinion on what answer could be in a competition,” McClain said. “Academic bowl is fun because you aren’t expected to answer all of the questions individually, you are able to work with others as a team.”
As a team, students work more efficiently together, allowing them to give the best possible answer.
“Working as a team helps during the competition because it makes you be able to answer promptly. Some questions take minutes to solve but with the help of conquering and dividing, the team can give a good answer,” Hernandez said. “Other than that, we might not know something that one of our teammates does. In that way, we cover more materials.”
Being in academic teams can bring many people close and you get to learn more about them.
“I often have quite outspoken students, and they typically become quite close,” Beene said. “A couple of years ago, I had a boy join the team who surprised me a bit. He was a smart kid but I hadn’t realized he was interested in reading. He did a wonderful job and became like a little brother to the older girls on the team. They became very close”
