2019 School Duel Competition Season

School Duel, a local trivia game-show where 20 high school teams around Broward Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County compete against each other, has begun its 2019 season. The academic-based competition consists of four various rounds and opportunities to earn points, each covering questions about a basic subject area. The five contestants from the National History Honors Society at John A. Ferguson won their first round last Thursday night, beating Hialeah Senior High School by thirty points in their 290-260 match.

From topics such as geography or famous astronomers to fun facts about vegetables, contestants enter School Duel with both acquired and retained knowledge of countless trivia questions. However, regardless of how teams lose, they never leave empty-handed. As added incentives, each student from the final winning team earns $1000 to spend as they please, and each individual who answers the most questions in every game earns Chick-fil-a for an entire year!

Mr. Andion, the club sponsor of the National History Honors Society, believes his 2019 team is very prepared for School Duel and other events they plan to participate in. Regardless of where they place, he believes that there is always the next competition season to improve on any errors that may have occurred in past rounds. Mr. Andion also hopes that more students begin to “learn and know about the academic teams so that we have more diverse people joining every year”, as it is not a pressure-heavy way to get involved with representing Ferguson.

Eleazar Padilla, one of the contestants competing for the first time, says that he was very excited to show what he knew. Knowing that there is no true way to prepare for answering trivia questions about a diverse amount of topics, he considered it an opportunity to apply his knowledge, while still having fun with his teammates. Eleazar admits that the event radiated its sense of prestige and competition, he felt more relaxed once he saw the other teams eating in a lively environment. He recalls thinking: “Oh, this isn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be. These are just other people like me, and we’re all here trying to win the same thing and showcase our knowledge, this is going to be fun!”

Although most of the students who participated in the first round of School Duel described the event as a competitive game, they also admitted that it began to seem less like a competition when one would start answering questions naturally. This new group of competitors hope to advance as far as they can in the 2019 season, but also believe they will still feel accomplished regardless of where they place.

Readers who are interested in following Ferguson’s competitions, the next being against SAS on March 28, can visit www.schoolduel.tv or tune into BECON-TV in South Florida on Thursdays at 8 p.m.