On the dark and rainy day of Thursday, October 10th, the Academic Competition team managed to secure a win against Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PALCS) and Technical College High School (TCHS).

Thursday’s win was definitely a high point for the team, setting off a great start to the season for both the varsity and junior varsity teams.  The varsity team, consisting of 8 students, ended the competition with a score of 110 points, besting PALCS’s 85 points and TCHS’s 35 points. The JV team, with 12 students,  also secured a victory, ending with 75 points against PALCS’s close 70 points and TCHS’s 10 points.

Now in its 30th anniversary, the Chester County Academic Competition consists of 24 local Chester county high schools competing against each other. In each tournament, three different schools compete against each other on stage in a “quiz-bowl” setting. Subjects such as literature, world history, science, mathematics, and current events are tested in rigorous and thought-provoking questions.

The entire competition is split up into two rounds: the toss-up round and the fanfare round. Consisting of 12 questions, the toss-up round requires teams have to “buzz in” to answer a series of questions in the above subjects, and 5 points are given for any correct responses. The other half of the competition is the fanfare round, where each team is given six questions to answer in the span of 1 minute. All the points that a team obtains in each competition is then added up, and the nine teams with the most amount of points move on to a semi-final match, where teams compete for a spot in the championship round.

Mr. Bohannon and Mrs. Gordon, moderators for Malvern’s Academic Competition team, were very pleased with the team’s performance on their first meet.

“I am very proud of our team,” said Mrs. Gordon. “Every student played and contributed to the win. We promote the idea that we need to work together to support each other and are a great team because of the brotherhood that we have. That sets us apart from the pack.”

Mr. Bohannon added, “I am very proud of all our boys. In the spirit of Malvernian Unitas, they prepared together, they competed together and they won together. Each and every one contributed. And that is exciting.”