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.
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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. 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! We are very excited to announce that the QuizWise program is being expanded to schools in other states!
These events will be held by elementary school teachers in their classrooms, primarily for fifth graders. This year, we are looking to include more science, humanities, and literature questions in the QuizWise curriculum as well. We are eagerly awaiting our first out-of-state tournaments! On March 22nd, 2018, at Mabel Hoggard Elementary School, fifth-graders participated in the "Quizwise" Math Bowl 2018, answering questions that demonstrated their mathematical excellence. Four teams competed for prizes and bragging rights, performing admirably. The competition happened during Mabel Hoggard's annual Math and Science Night, a celebration of the school's STEM culture. The Mathematical theme was at the school's request, to tie in to the night's events. The school was a happening place that night, with food trucks, games, and playing students galore. Being a tournament director and reader for the elementary students was a totally different ball game. We were more informal, often rereading the questions and giving the students more time on the bonuses. Dr. Maglicco, of Mabel Hoggard Elementary, helped coordinate the event with AAQB. Congratulations to the Team "Joe's Hotdogs," who won the tournament, made up of Michael Reynolds, Nyomi Barraza, Rayne Montgomery, and Bryce Bishaw. They were followed by Team "Asian Squad," made up of Zander Chu, Lauren Oliver, Cameron, and Suchir Sunkara. In third place came Team "Mathematical Big Birds," containing Ninna Wang, Joshua Palenko, Olivia Hua, and Amanda Manzano. Finally, in fourth place came Team "Salty Crackers," with Ishitha Jayasinghe, Kirina McLeod, Carl, and Yonathan Abiy. We were heartened by the turnout, and when we gave away prizes, the cafeteria was absolutely packed with teachers and students. In light of the interest, for next year, we're planning on making the event county-wide and allowing other elementary schools to participate, and adding science to the tournament. Congrats to all teams who competed, and we here at AAQB are eagerly awaiting next year's "Quizwise" tournament!
Samuel Goodman, Daniyal Qazi, Austin Parkerson, and Kevin Sun shone yesterday as Hyde Park Team C. Samuel Goodman's performance was impressive, considering he had never been to a quiz bowl tournament, with a stat line of 5-17-2. He was also the top scorer of the tournament. The coach for Hyde Park MS is Ms. Janet Weinstein. Second place was won by Doral Academy Red Rock, led by Anna Weigand, whose performance was also impressive, with a stat line of 1-16-0. She was the second scorer of the tournament. Her teammates were Joseph Steuber, James Steuber, Keean Baltazar, Zach Sideco, and Sage Koebcke. The coach for Doral Academy Red Rock is Mr. Matt Albert. Third place was secured by Hyde Park Team B, captained by Alexander Fiore, who tied for 3rd scorer. He was well supported by Colin Jewell, Bryce Wetjen, and Lewis Hwang. Del Webb came in fourth place with Roberto Caalim showing a strong performance and tying for 3rd scorer. He was aided by Kennedy Bitsko, Catherine James, Ella King, Eden Park, Adam Drazba, Raven Caalim, and Kayleb Longoria. Del Webb's coaches are Mr. Calvin Lin and Mr. Roy Leon. Congratulations to Coach Matt Albert, Coach Justin Sharp, and Mr. Paul Villaluz! AAQB has recognized these coaches for their contributions to Quiz Bowl in Las Vegas, on March 3rd, which has been proclaimed "Learn Through Quiz Bowl" Day by Mayor Goodman.
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AuthorEshaan Vakil, AAQB Founder Archives
March 2021
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