Alamosa High students ready to take on the rest of the state
THE Quiz Kids champions from Alamosa High School won’t have long to bask in their win before their next challenge: the Colorado Knowledge Bowl 2023 State Tournament.
The Rocky Mountain Quiz Kids champions, Alamosa High’s Jake Fricke, Brock Benton, Madelyn Garberich, Aaron Ramirez and Carsten Kirkland, travel this week to state Knowledge Bowl competition at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
It’s there that Team Moose hopes to repeat its Quiz Kids performance against the best Knowledge Bowl teams in Colorado.
“They were a little worried about taking part in the quiz show because filming was close to state and traveling can wear you out,” said Alamosa High science teacher Erika Henderson, one of the team’s coaches. “I think the quiz show was the perfect opportunity for them to have some additional practice before competing at state.”
Alamosa Knowledge Bowl team and their coaches: Jake Fricke, left, Brock Benton, Matt Relyea, Carsten Kirkland, Aaron Ramirez, Madelyn Garberich, Erika Henderson and Jason Duncan.
THE Alamosa High contingent swept through a 30-team Quiz Kids bracket, and in the championship round outdueled Palmer Ridge High to earn the Quiz Kids crown in a competition sponsored by the SOCO CW television station.
The students, with their coaches Erika Henderson, Matt Relyea and Jason Duncan, traveled over several weekends to the TV show competition held in Colorado Springs.
“AHS is proud of our Knowledge Bowl Team, taking on and beating the best teams in Southern Colorado to win the Rocky Mountain Quiz Kids competition,” said Alamosa High Principal Andy Lavier.
“We are so proud of our team. It was a wonderful experience,” said Henderson, whose own commitment to the cause has the Alamosa High student body hailing her as one of the best in the teaching field. “It has been somewhat of a dream for some of our students to participate on a high school quiz show.”
Next up for the Alamosa High team is the state Knowledge Bowl Championship, which will be held this coming Monday and Tuesday. Henderson said the team’s main goal this school year has been the Colorado Knowledge Bowl competition after finishing third a year ago.
It will be the first time in five years that the state Knowledge Bowl teams will face each other face-to-face versus a virtual, online competition.
Henderson said the “students have been putting in many hours this year studying various topics from Shakespeare, rivers, government, literature, and so many more topics.”
“We hope that the success of the team can encourage and inspire younger students at Alamosa to share their knowledge and join Knowledge Bowl in the future,” Henderson said.
In addition to Alamosa, the Valley will be represented by Centauri, La Veta, Monte Vista, Salida, and Sargent at the state tournament. Monte Vista also was a participant in the Quiz Kids television show competition.
Below is video of Alamosa High team competing at Quiz Kids. The SOCO CW station, sister station of Fox 21, will air the competition in a series of episodes this spring and summer.
