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We here at AAQB are seeking to form a Las Vegas chapter of an organization helping youths displaced by conflict, so if you are interested in tutoring your peers from other countries virtually once a week in English, please contact us at vegasmsqb@gmail.com! Thanks!
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It's no exaggeration to say that mental health is one of the greatest challenges facing modern quiz bowl. In order to tackle this pressing issue, quiz bowl old hand Erik Nelson, who has played a major role in the community for over 20 years, has founded the Bounceback Foundation. They do amazing work at national competitions and online.
For all quiz bowlers out there who are interested in mental health causes, we highly encourage you to check it out!  Aaron has been an enthusiastic supporter of volunteer work in the community. His team has participated in our events year after year and shown exemplary dedication. Below is Aaron's interview:
1. How has volunteering in the community shaped who you are today? Volunteering has given me such a unique perspective on my community. I love being able to meet new people and help out with the events that really connect Las Vegas. It has been so exciting to help forge new bonds within my community- especially in a place as remarkable and diverse as Las Vegas. My whole experience with volunteering has been such an integral part of my life, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. 2. What advice do you have for high school freshmen wanting to help out in the community? My biggest piece of advice would be that you don’t have to start big. Even small acts of kindness- like picking up trash at the park or spending a couple hours at the local shelter- can really make a meaningful difference. Large organizations like National Honor Society are fantastic ways to get involved, but there are also countless other ways to help out as well. No matter where you start, remember to reach out and be confident, because your help will always be appreciated. 3. Who or what inspires you to give back to others? Ms. Simental, our current National Honor Society advisor, has been a huge inspiration. She is a former National Honor Society member herself, and it’s really inspiring to see how she wants to continue making an impact on her local community by helping a new generation of high school students get involved. It has been super cool to see how passionate she is about volunteering, and I’m extremely thankful for all the work she puts in. 4. A fun fact about yourself. I really enjoy playing a lot of different sports, especially soccer and basketball. My dad has been teaching me how to play sports since I was 3, but despite being 4 inches taller and almost 40 years younger than him, he can still beat me one-on-one in basketball. In my initial post, I wrote about the reasons for the lack of girls in quiz bowl. The logical next step is to parse out ways to resolve the issue. First off, in terms of recruitment, clubs need to put forth an effort to get more girls involved in the game. In my experience, outreach is vital to introducing potential players, especially girls, to quiz bowl. It also allows for a supportive, encouraging atmosphere within the competition. However, there are other issues present in quiz bowl. Sexism remains a significant impediment to both current and potential players. In my opinion, in order to retain female players, misogyny within the community must be actively condemned by the community at large. To be blunt, whenever something outwardly sexist occurs within the quiz bowl sphere, criticism is abundant and commonplace. However, these incidents don't generally have an impact on individual players. Those incidents consist of comments and actions that occur outside of the public eye that women in quiz bowl regularly contend with. It is how we react to these moments of everyday sexism that determines if we as a community are truly focused on fixing the gender imbalance and the misogynistic culture that exists alongside it. Ultimately, the process by which we can resolve the gender disparity in quiz bowl is to make an effort to bring girls in while combating the misogyny that keeps girls out. The only question left is whether or not we as individuals are willing to do what it takes to rectify this problem.
One of the most significant problems in quiz bowl is the lack of girls who take part. It's not too common to see girls on teams whatsoever, much less the one or two girls that tend to be the maximum. This begs the question. Why don't more girls participate in quiz bowl? There are several obvious reasons. To begin with, the disparity tends to discourage more girls from joining. People are more likely to join something if they see people like them involved. If they join despite this, many girls still contend with the alienation that comes with being one of few women on their team. In my opinion, however, the more pressing concern is the commonplace incidents of sexism that serve as a major deterrent to girls considering joining the game. Many female players have written about their personal experiences with misogyny throughout their time playing quiz bowl and, frankly, no one should have to put up with these behaviors. Additionally, these occurrences not only deter new players but also lead to current players quitting, thus worsening the imbalance. So, what can we as a community do to help with this problem? Check back later to read about my thoughts on that.
Thank you to all the teams that participated in our 2019 AAQB Quiz Bowl Tournament, held on March 16!
The results have been posted to the NAQT website, and the team standings are as follows: Fourth place: Hyde Park B Third place: Doral Red Rock A Second place: Hyde Park C First place: Hyde Park A Congratulations to our teams and players! More information can be found on the NAQT website. Today, at Mabel Hoggard Elementary School, AAQB held its second annual QuizWise elementary school event!  We welcome the addition of Science and Technology categories to the QuizWise curriculum, and we look forward to many more successful events! Our first place team was Team 3, composed of: Jason Kim Cole Paige Aubrielle Aragones Valentine Holmes Congratulations to the first place team!  Our second place team was Team 4, composed of: Nahom Fikre Senai Embaye Justin Elip Antonio Lopez Congratulations to the second place team!  Our third place team was Team 2, composed of: Charles Cunanan Anderson Newell Biniam Gebre Mauricio Delgado Congratulations to the third place team! Our fourth place team was Team 1, composed of: Karla Rojas Daisy Hernandez Reina Bungay Logan Garcia Congratulation to the fourth place team! Thank you to all who participated, and we hope you enjoyed!
Thank you to the YNAPP program of the City of Las Vegas for funding AAQB's events for 2018-2019!  On February 6, 2018, Eshaan Vakil (Founder), Blu Mehari (Quiz Bowl Ambassador), and Devika Bararia (Volunteer Coordinator) went to Las Vegas City Hall to receive a grant from YNAPP for AAQB's tournaments in the spring of 2019.  Eshaan Vakil, Blu Mehari, and Devika Bararia with the Mayor of Las Vegas Carolyn Goodman.
Last week, youth volunteers from AAQB gave a presentation to the City of Las Vegas' Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program board as a part of their application for a YNAPP grant.  Eshaan Vakil (right) and Max Meranto (left) gave the presentation. AAQB is a returning YNAPP grant recipient, having received funding for our tournaments during the previous academic year.
We eagerly await YNAPP's decision, and we are preparing for our March 16, 2019 annual middle school tournament, and for our elementary Math Bowl and "Transitioning to Middle School" event in spring 2019! We hope to see you there! We here at AAQB are eagerly preparing for and looking forward to a new season of Las Vegas Middle and Elementary School quiz bowl!
For those who would like to participate, our schedule for the upcoming year is as follows: March 16, 2019 - Our annual quiz bowl tournament, now an AAQB tradition, will be held at Doral High School, Red Rock Campus. Spring 2019 (Exact date TBD) - We will continue the rollout of our QuizWise curriculum at our Math Bowl tournament, to be held at Mabel Hoggard Elementary School! Spring 2019 (Exact date TBD) - AAQB will again be holding a "Transitioning to High School" event and seminar for interested Middle School parents and students at Hyde Park Middle School. We hope to see you at some of our events this year! |
AuthorEshaan Vakil, AAQB Founder Archives
August 2019
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