The MTHS Hi-Q team had a home match on Wed, Jan. 8, in the MTHS Theater. The MTHS Hi-Q team was up against the Hi-Q teams from Cascade High School and Glacier Peak High School.
Hi-Q, an academic quiz competition for high school students, first started in 1948 in Pennsylvania and Washington in 1976. The goal of Hi-Q is to foster deeper student interest in learning and strives to engage the entire student body. Questions are primarily based off of 14 high school subjects. Peter Breysse is the current adviser for the Terrace Hi-Q team.
“We scored well the first match,” he said, “and we’ll score even better the first couple of matches.”
Everett Community College is the main sponsor of the Hi-Q program, but there is some support from local community groups, businesses, and foundations as well.
The Hi-Q season formally begins again in Jan. of 2009. There are 20 high schools competing this year for the Hi-Q program. Currently, there is no rank since most schools have not competed yet.
“This is the first time we came in the lead in a while,” said veteran team member Jeremy Rowe. “I think the biggest change this year is a strong opening round.”
The match first started off with team questions, then toss up questions, and lastly, envelope questions. During the match, after a question is presented, the chosen team must answer correctly within fifteen seconds. Other teams also can buzz in if one team says the wrong answer.
As for the toss up question, all teams are able to answer the same question, but only one team has to answer correctly within 45 seconds.
Last, the envelope questions are for all teams to solve the questions in the given envelope, and the first team that answers correctly within the allotted time gets the points.
In the first round, Terrace was in the lead scoring 25 points, Glacier Peak trailing up with a score of 19 points, and Cascade was third with nine points.
In the second round, Terrace did well again, leading with a score of 34 points, Glacier Peak with a score of 28 points, and Cascade with a score of 21 points. This ended the game with Terrace winning the match, Glacier Peak second, and Cascade third.
According to Breysse, last year Terrace was “in the middle.” “We weren’t great but we weren’t bad either,” he said.
“I think that the new schools [like Glacier Peak] are going to try a little harder than us veterans,” said new member Jacob Laugeson.
The Hi-Q team at MTHS had a great start with the first match of the season and the team will continue to play matches throughout the season. Their next match will take place Jan. 22 at Sultan High School.