WEM Knowledge Bowl
It’s 7:30 a.m.—almost an hour before school starts— but 10 brainy Buccaneers are already seated in desks, deep in thought.
They are the members of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School’s Knowledge Bowl Team.
A few students munch their breakfasts.
Many down caffeinated drinks.
All are focused on solving the question at hand, a brand-named brainteaser that Knowledge Bowl Advisor (and Spanish teacher) Tom Walker has posed: resonating percussion instruments of a political faction.
You can almost hear the wheels of thought spinning in the team members’ heads. And, after a dozen or so good—but incorrect— guesses, the correct answer is voiced. It’s Campbell’s.
“Doing exercises like this helps get you thinking, considering things differently, which is why it’s part of our regular warmups,” Walker explained.
Desks are then rearranged in three clusters, one for each team.
Seniors Alex Heuss, Paige Atherton, Kiri Kerekes, and Grace Petersen comprise team Terra Cotta.
Junior Ian Waugh and freshmen Chloe Johnson and Mason Richter make up team Chartreuse.
Team Vermillion includes freshmen...
To see more on this story pick up the February 17, 2022 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.