WILMINGTON — It was a good day for the Angels, as Holy Angels School edged St. Ann School for the Academic Bowl championship for elementary schools in the Diocese of Wilmington. Teams from those institutions joined seven others on March 20 at Saint Mark’s High School for a day of questions and answers to determine the winner.
There were a few changes to the bowl this season, said Ashley Torelli, the assistant principal at Christ the Teacher School who has been involved with the event the past three years. After the Academic Bowl returned following the covid pandemic, it was held at St. John the Beloved School and Christ the Teacher School before moving to Saint Mark’s.
Also, the number of schools that participated increased to nine. Among those who made the trip were teams from Holy Cross School in Dover and Most Blessed Sacrament in Berlin, Md. The other teams were Christ the Teacher, Holy Angels, St. Ann’s, St. Peter Cathedral, St. John the Beloved, St. Anthony of Padua and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Approximately 100 sixth- through eighth-grade students were involved.
Each school was responsible for determining which students would represent them, Torelli said.
“It’s different for every school. At Christ the Teacher, we go by their grades and offer it to all the highest kids, and they have to take a placement test,” she said.
Teachers and administrators from each school recycle as many old questions as they can, and Torelli and the schools came up with the rest. They covered a number of subject areas, including religion, television and music, science, history and others.
“It’s general questions, but each school has to give 10 original questions as well,” she said.
A sampling of the questions reveals their breadth.
For example, what is the most ordered item at McDonald’s? How many arms does the Venus de Milo statue have? Which two countries border the United States? What gifts did the three wise men bring when they visited the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem?
The answers: French fries; zero; Mexico and Canada; and gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Each round ended with a lightning phase, when only a designated player could answer, although he could collaborate with a teammate. The team going first had to pick from two topics. In one round, the choices were Disney or food and spices.
It was a full day at Saint Mark’s for the participants. They arrived in time for breakfast and morning prayer. After preliminary rounds, they broke for lunch, then returned to a row of classrooms for the superstar round.
