| A trivia team from Somerville High School will be one of 16
teams from across Massachusetts to compete in WGBH's High School
Quiz Show, which airs in February.
Somerville High School and the 15 other public high schools
competing in the televised trivia competition learned Monday
afternoon they'd earned a spot on the show, which is hosted
by local TV and radio personality Billy Costa.
The show, when it airs this winter, will be in its third
season, and this year 91 teams from across the state registered
for a chance to compete on television.
The 91 teams faced a qualifying round, called "Super
Sunday," in which they were asked 100 questions—each
team received the same 100 questions—and the 16 teams
that scored the highest during that round were invited to
move onto the TV rounds.
Ted Blake, an AP history teacher at Somerville High School,
is the trivia team's coach. He said he was "really excited"
the team earned a spot on the show, and a little surprised
because last year in the "Super Sunday" round Somerville
got the same score they did this year, but didn't make the
show.
"I was pleasantly surprised that we made it this year,"
Blake said.
The trivia team is made up of four members, with two alternates.
This year's accomplishment is even more significant, said
Blake, because five of the six members are brand new—an
engineering competition also took place on "Super Sunday,"
Oct. 30, taking veteran team members away from the trivia
event.
This year's team is composed entirely of juniors and sophomores:
Zoe Iacovino, a junior; Miles Bain, a sophomore; Harrison
Grams, a junior; and Celine Lessard-Brandt, a sophomore. R.J.
Bingham, a sophomore, and Haley McAllister, a junior, are
alternates. Amy Jacobs, who's also a history teacher at Somerville
High School, is the teams assistant coach.
High School Quiz show will tape in January, and it premiers
Feb. 12 on WGBH.
The 16 teams will compete against each other in elimination
rounds, much like the Sweet 16 bracket of the NCAA basketball
tournament.
The other public high school teams competing this year are
•Acton-Boxborough
•Arlington, which made it to the final round last year
•Belmont
•Beverly
•Brookline
•Hamilton-Wenham, which won last year's competition
•Lexington
•Lincoln-Sudbury
•Milton
•Rockport
•Seekonk
•Sharon
•Shrewsbury
•Weston
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