The Scholars Bowl team held their annual banquet Wednesday, Feb. 25, marking the end of another successful season and celebrating the team placing third at state.
Coach Tina Keith hosts and organizes the banquet each year. This year, Keith opted to cater food for the event so the team’s families can better focus on celebrating their student.
“It’s a good way to acknowledge the hard work of both the varsity and the JV team, and it gives an opportunity for everybody to have one last time together to laugh,” Keith said. “[It’s nice] to have parents come and support the Scholars Bowl team as well.”
Parents and their students, like sophomore Shriya Mihir, went head-to-head in Scholars’ Bowl rounds at the banquet.
“I really enjoyed myself now that I’ve branched out more and I know more people,” Mihir said. “I had a fun time watching the kids compete with parents, especially varsity kids versus varsity parents.”
Taking place after the season’s end, the banquet brings Mihir and her team members together and honors the friendships made during the season.
“Ever since practice ended, it’s been boring,” Mihir said. “[I really enjoyed] being around the group of people again and chatting and having fun.”
Keith uses the banquet as a way to celebrate the seniors, as well. Keith teamed up with engineering teacher Brian Hagstrom to give the state team 3D printed medals that recognize their individual strengths.
“This varsity team all mean so much to me, especially because they’ve been the same consistent people [for years],” Keith said. “This is a core team that’s been together for so long, and I wanted to do something different.”
Seniors Nathan Turvey and Ian Weatherman presented Keith with the team’s senior gift: a bouquet of flowers and a statue of a goat to represent being the Greatest of All Time.
“We really appreciate all that she’s done for us [in] Scholars Bowl, but also in AP Gov and AP Euro,” Turvey said. “We can tell that she cares about us, so we wanted to show how much we cared for her as well. It was [also] a funny coincidence because Ian’s award was a medal calling him the GOAT.”
Keith appreciates Scholars Bowl for the opportunities it gives academic students to connect and bond with one another.
“It fills a void that sports doesn’t fill,” Keith said. “I’ve always been drawn to Scholars Bowl for that reason, and the kids within it mean a lot to me.”
