SA Wins First Round of KDKA's Hometown High-Q


Sewickley Academy's Senior School Quiz Bowl team members seniors Cooper Cheng and Nicholas Valenta and sophomore Rebecca Glass competed on Hometown High-Q, KDKA-TV’s quiz show, this past weekend, which filmed on Saturday, October 12. The Panthers won with a score of 565 points – 175 points more than the closest team they faced!

The Academy went up against Beaver and North Hills to battle it out by answering questions about subjects taught in school for academic grants and recognition. The team will compete in the playoffs this spring.

Nick, who initially got involved with the Quiz Bowl team last year as a junior, knew what he was getting into this year. “High-Q has been a Pittsburgh tradition since 1999, so I always knew SA had a team. We record the number of correct answers from each player during each meeting and the top three compete on High-Q. I was number two last year and number one this year, so I was on the team,” he explained.

The team prepped twice a week before school and almost weekly during their lunch period using Quiz Bowl questions and by playing along to old Hometown High-Q episodes on KDKA’s website in hopes of being fully prepared for the challenge. In their spare time, some of the team members watched game shows on TV as well.

Cooper joined the team after trying out a variety of clubs every year. Realizing Quiz Bowl was his favorite, he dedicated more and more time to the competition and it paid off this year. “Since this was my first time on Hometown High-Q, I had no idea what to expect. With no real gauge on the other teams' capabilities, I couldn't reasonably expect any specific outcome to occur,” Cooper said. “On the other hand, this did guarantee a great deal of excitement to be anticipated and left room for optimism,” he continued.

As far as expectations, Nick knew the team was better prepared than last year. “Plus, it helps that we're Sewickley Academy. Our school's name carries a lot of weight. People immediately think ‘Wow, they're very well prepared,’” he said.

“Being on the set of a TV show was pretty exciting,” Cooper said. “I think Sewickley Academy did a good job preparing us to deal with the intense lights and the fact that we were performing in front of an audience. All the plays and such in the Early Childhood and Lower School years paid off far into the future, even if we didn't continue any thespian pursuits in Middle School and Senior School.”

The team is proud of their accomplishment and looks forward to competing in the playoffs.

If you missed the original broadcast, an encore will air on Saturday, November 9, at 11:30 a.m. You can also stream the episode on the Hometown High-Q website after November 16.

Congratulations, Panthers!

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