Heelan holds quiz bowl Bringing student minds together

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
December 16, 2004

Heelan High School in Sioux City hosted its first annual middle school quiz bowl competition from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 9 in the Heelan CYO.

Ten students from each of the area Catholic middle schools, Holy Cross, Mater Dei, Sacred Heart, St. Michael South Sioux City, Neb. and Le Mars Gehlen, participated in the event. In all there were 50 middle schools students and 17 Heelan High School students involved in the day.

"We wanted to stress the academics among the middle schools," said Pat Sitzman, Bishop Heelan quiz bowl moderator. "We wanted them to have a chance to get together with other kids that had a love for learning and find out how much the other schools were studying the types of things they were."

From 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. the students were in mixed groups, one student from each of the five different schools, to compete in a contest of building towers out of paper. There was also a member of the Heelan quiz bowl team with each group. The criteria for the towers included measurements, geometric designs, having it as tall as they could get it and that it had to stay standing.

"We wanted to get them together with students from other schools so it wouldn't be all one school against another school," said Sitzman. "We wanted to build some community, too."

The winner of the tower building contest was team 5 including Emily Vogel from Mater Dei, Austin Svec from Sacred Heart, Patrick Jung from Holy Cross, Cody Cain from St. Michael's in South Sioux City and Linden Shoup from Gehlen Catholic. Each of the team members received an individual trophy.

The first games of the quiz bowl, made up of three rounds each, were held after the tower building. The students were then served lunch followed by more games in the afternoon. Each of the four games had three rounds including a ten point section, a 60-second rapid fire round and a 20-point section. The fifth game was just for the top four places.

"We thought it would be a good way for them to get together with some of their peers. Rather than an athletic or vocal type thing, we wanted to do something on the academic section," said Sitzman.

Each team for the different games was made up of five students. The individual schools were split into two teams. For example, there was a Holy Cross team A and team B. One teacher from each of the grade schools asked the questions. Every team also brought another teacher or parent to help facilitate. The Heelan students, all members of the Heelan quiz bowl team, were the timers and runners.

Holy Cross team B won first place, and Holy Cross team A received second place. Third place went to Mater Dei. The top three teams received team trophies. Sacred Heart took fourth place.

"Sometimes it is difficult to know that it is okay to be smart, it is okay to be bright, to know lots of things," said Sitzman. "This was a chance for kids to excel in that area and find out there were other kids that were just as excited about learning as the other students."

According to Sitzman, this was a chance for the students to get together to "showcase their expertise and get a chance to meet kids from other schools. It's okay to be smart. It is fun. If they were given a mind, they really need to use it."