The mornings where donuts are delivered into every Blue Valley classroom are ones where students and staff alike are appreciative of the hard work athletes have put in to win a State competition.
However, in the past four years, those donuts in late February have not come from any sports team but from Scholars’ Bowl participants.
Junior Nathan Luzum has been on the varsity team for two years and expects to go to State this year. He said the team’s success has come from a shared passion to perform to their highest abilities.
“We just have a lot people on the team who are very unique and intelligent, who have a great drive for knowledge and love of academics,” Luzum said. “That definitely contributes to the success of the team.”
A Scholars’ Bowl competition covers not only mathematics, but everything from history to foreign languages.
“Most of [the information] tends to be school-curriculum based, but there are certainly some concepts that school does not necessarily teach,” Luzum said. “So, there is some outside learning, but I think most people tend to draw from what they learned in school and draw from what they are passionate about.”
Due to the wide variety of topics, diversity in participants is needed as well, Luzum said.
“Everybody is very well-rounded with what he or she knows, and, obviously, everybody has their specialties,” Luzum said. “[There are] people who know music very well, people who know language arts very well, people who know various aspects of history whether it be Roman history or European history or United States history. Everybody has a basic knowledge of all those, but some people have a very in-depth knowledge, and together, we bring out a lot of success in the team.”
Luzum said, like a sports team, Scholars’ Bowl has training sessions as well as individual preparation.
“Every Monday, we have a Scholars’ Bowl practice, which is just going through a whole bunch of rounds of questions,” Luzum said. “We also train every day we go to school by learning new things. Then, on our own, we delve into subjects we’re interested in and passionate about, so training is both in school and out.”
The interactions among the members is another reason Luzum said he enjoys Scholars’ Bowl.
“Everyone in Scholars’ Bowl is so unique and intelligent, and it’s nice to meet others who share the same interests in academics,” he said.
Luzum said participating in Scholars’ Bowl attributed to his success in high school.
“[Scholars’ Bowl] does help enforce certain academic concepts,” he said. “There are some questions that are very recurring in Scholar’s Bowl, so you learn certain new random facts. Also, it’s a good way to practice what you’ve learned in school.”
With four consecutive State victories, Luzum said he is optimistic about upcoming competitions.
“This year we have a lot of new freshmen who have become interested, which is a very good thing because, obviously, we need to look out for the future of the Scholar’s Bowl program,” he said. “It’s good to see so many young minds wanting to grow to become better.”
