Knowledge Bowl: New season, new coaches
Lightning reflexes, quick thinking, and ruthless competition dominated the Marshall Knowledge Bowl meet on Monday, January 13. Minneota’s all girl team placed second, with the all boy team finished in eighth.
Minneota’s coaches, Mrs. Devann Shultz and Mr. Aaron Koep, have certainly risen to the challenge of being new to both the school and to coaching. The coaches echoed each other in their memories of the fun they had as student participants, and they desired to bring this opportunity to Minneota students.
But the coaches are definitely enjoying the activity too.
“Most of our kids this school year are new to the activity, so to see it go from something unknown to something to be excited about has made me happy to see,” Koep said.
“More so than that though, I have enjoyed getting to know more students. Each student has their own story and interests.”
Shultz, on the other hand, found a different aspect to appreciate: “I enjoy the competitive attitudes, even if the goal is to get more points than other students that are from our school but on a different team.” Knowledge Bowl is not all fun and games, though; it is an important activity.
Shultz stressed that, “Knowledge Bowl is important because students realize that they know more than they think they do! It takes teamwork and concentration, like most sports.”
Koep added that, “Knowledge Bowl is a fun way to test the knowledge of the students. They all know so much more than they get tested on in their classes. All students have different interests and therefore all have deeper knowledge and understanding in those subject areas.”
Koep, a Math Corps tutor, and Shultz, a member of the school’s tech department, have already had success with the junior high team. “They did really good for some meets, and struggled a little for others,” Shultz said, but, “No matter what, they still had a good attitude afterwards. I think that is super important.”
She went on to describe their season’s end: “They went to sub-regionals at SMSU, and one team got 23rd place out of 53 teams. This allowed them to go to regionals a couple days later.
They didn’t win, but they gave a good effort!” Minneota’s two new coaches have been giving a great effort, which has paid off. Their dreams of giving students an opportunity for fun learning have definitely been realized, and the season ahead is sure to be littered with successes for the Knowledge Bowl team.
Members of the Knowledge Bowl teams include: Reid Fier, Logan Schuelke, Caleb Sterzinger, Sam Skorczewski, Joe Voit, Alyssa Engels, Kaitlyn Hanson, Audra Buysse, Cecilia Rabaey, and Molly Krog.
Here’s the Senior High Knowledge Bowl team’s remaining schedule: Jan. 27 at Pipestone; Feb. 3 at Marshall; Feb. 10 at Canby; Feb. 17 at Fulda