Out of only three teams who advanced from Texas and 16 in the entire nation, two Archer City Family, Career and Community Leaders of America teams have advanced to the national Lifesmarts Quizbowl competition in California in June.
The school board decided at their meeting on Dec. 2 that the school will fund the trip completely.
Advancing teams include seniors Hunter Sims, Prayze Pierce, Seth Deerinwater, Seth Emrick, Robert Salyers, junior Rebecca Taggart, sophomores Kassidy Marin, Kole Stovall, Chase Curry, Lane Hall and Leiah Graham.
“I’m excited to experience this competition somewhere else besides the computer lab at the school,” Stovall said.
Participants will be competing on a larger stage at the national competition in California.
“I am excited about getting the opportunity to compete in California,” Deerinwater said. “Although the competition will be tougher, I am not nervous and feel prepared.”
This is the first year that teams have competed in this Quizbowl competition, so Graham said they did not expect to advance to the national competition.
“I’m glad my team is doing good in something that is new to us,” Graham said. “I hope we continue to do good next round.”
Five teams from the FCCLA group made it to the previous round two, which is top 40 in the nation at the end of November.
“I am very happy that my team advanced to second round,” senior Taylor Hall said. “We work very well together and all have strengths that blend well.”
Her teammate senior Colton Canada agreed with her.
“It’s great to be able to use my past knowledge to help my team advance,” Canada said. “It’s a really fun experience.”
With this being the first year, teams have had to learn how to prepare.
“I helped the teams prepare by assigning homework assignments over Lifesmarts to make sure they know as much as they can as well as having them take practice quizzes on the Quizbowl website,” FCCLA sponsor Donette Odom said.
She is using Google Classroom to assign work and announcements to help with communication between participants.
“We also celebrated advancing to the second round with a luncheon for the competition groups,” Odom said. “That time is also a way for me to meet with them and discuss competition.”
Separate from the competition groups, the FCCLA group participated in the annual breakfast pie party with pumpkin cream pie and pecan pie on Nov. 18 before Thanksgiving break.
“We make these pies every year in my culinary class who has been a great help with cooking for luncheons, FCCLA meals and parties,” Odom said. “They play a large part in the cooking and preparation side of things which is much appreciated by the students.”
FCCLA will be having a Christmas party in which they will discuss community service projects for the spring.
“Since we have mainly been focusing on our first year of competition, we have not been as involved in community service in the fall, so we want that to be our main focus for the spring,” Odom said.
Hall said that the parties can provide stress relief and fun after competition.
“I think the parties will be a good time for the teams to bond,” Hall said.