Gallery • 7 Photos

Kaitlyn Cashdollar

The team poses outside the Lowry Student Center.

Knowledge Bowl competed at State on the 14th and 15th of this month. They went up to the hotel the Sunday before the competition, and stayed until that Tuesday. When they first arrived, there was an introduction to Colorado State University, and a talk about rules.

The first round of it was the written round, which lasted approximately an hour. The written round was a packet of 6 sheets filled with 60 multiple choice questions, and each room had three teams. Each person collaborated with their teammates, in order to get the most amount of questions right. Our team got 36 points.
Next was the first oral round, against Vanguard and Ouray. For oral rounds, they’re a bit different. Instead of multiple choice with teammates, it is independent. The official reads off the question, and they answer in the order that each team buzzes in. They are not allowed to communicate with the rest of their team, so whoever buzzed in answers. If two people from the same team answer, then it’s a disqualification, unless they say the exact same answer at the exact same time. A large variety of questions are asked, ranging from every subject, such as history and word problems. Every round has 50 questions, and for every question that is answered correctly the team scores a point. The average score per round at State was 13.
It was a little complicated, seeing that the buzzer machine wasn’t working for Vanguard’s buzzer, but in the end it worked out fine. We got three points in that round.
There was another oral round afterwards against Pikes Peak and Woodland Park, and we scored 13 points.
They had a short intermission for lunch, where there was an insane hour long Subway line.
The last three oral rounds of the first day went pretty smooth. The third was against Lake City and Rye, scoring us 9 points. Then we were against Montezuma Cortez and Elizabeth, scoring 9 again. The last round of the day was against Montezuma Cortez and Walsh, scoring 13 points, and 83 points overall.
The next day there was yet another written round, with Liberty and Sargent, and we got 34 points.
The last two oral rounds were against Liberty and Dolores, and Lake City Community Dolores. The sixth round they got 12 points, and last round we got 11.
They scored 10th in their league, and the trophies and awards were handed out in the West Ballroom.
Over the time of two days, the team was asked 470 questions. Everybody was very exhausted afterwards, but still excited. At the end, Mrs. Gardner said, “They (the team) gained experience. In just the massive volume of questions being thrown at them. I think that was a wonderful experience. Everyone got to participate at that high level of competition and see what it’s like.” She also said that her favorite question of the whole competition was, how many metatarsals are on a basketball team in play?
This was also senior Cicada Dawn’s last chance at state. “It was stressful, but a lot of fun. I don’t know how to describe it. Nonstop is the best word I can use,” they said. Overall, it looked like the team had a lot of fun. They will still continue practices on Wednesday and Thursday during lunch, despite the competition being over.