From left, Robinson Secondary School students Kate Augelli (seventh), Lily Britzinghoffer (seventh), Mason Cook (eighth) and Megan Sullivan (eighth), and their coach Michael P. Campana represented Robinson at the Middle School National Championship of the National History Bowl in Louisville, KY. Photo courtesy of Elaine Sullivan
Robinson eighth grader Megan Sullivan didn’t have a history final -- she’s taking Civics -- but spent a lot of time studying literary history in the last month. Sullivan and three classmates from the secondary school traveled to Louisville, Ky., for Memorial Day Weekend to compete in the Middle School National Championship of the National History Bowl.
“It was really stressful for a while,” Sullivan said. “I had three SOLs in one week and a final in Latin I had to study for. And at the same time I had to study history and geography.”
Sullivan joined the middle school’s Quiz Bowl team as a seventh grader and competed in one local tournament. This school year, the foursome of Kate Augelli (seventh grade), Lily Britzinghoffer (seventh grade), Mason Cook (eighth grade) and Sullivan competed in a regional event last fall and ultimately qualified for the national bowl.
THE TEAM BOWL EVENT took place on Sunday, May 23. From a field of 72 teams, Robinson advanced to the quarterfinals, finishing in the top eight overall. The team from Longfellow Middle School in Falls Church was the overall champion of the event.
Cook and Sullivan also competed as individuals in the United States Geography Olympiad Middle School National Championship held that Friday. Out of 120 qualifying students, Cook finished 26th overall and Sullivan took 43rd.
On Saturday of the championship weekend was the National History Bee Middle School National Championship for individuals. Cook, Sullivan and Britzinghoffer tested their knowledge against 530 other students. Cook placed 25th and the two young ladies finished above the median.
“I was very pleased, very proud,” said team head coach and Robinson Spanish teacher Michael P. Campana. “They put a lot of time, effort and dedication into it. They’re gung-ho about trying to do it all again next year.”
After deciding to accept the bid to compete, the team committed to practicing several times a week after school. And thought preparation required prodigious sums of studying, the members relied on each other’s strengths to cover more ground.
“Mason already know a whole lot about European history,” said Sullivan. “Lily was really good at American history, especially the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. I took hist of literature and ancient hist. Kate just took whatever was left and made a whole lot of flashcards. That was something that really helped us.”
SULLIVAN said a shared love of history and of learning brought them together as teammates and closer as friends. Those are just a few of the reasons Campana and Eugene Huang, the coach-sponsor of Longfellow’s history and Quiz Bowl team, are working together to increase student participation in these groups.
“To be able to recognize, synthesize, analyze and react quickly,” said Campana, “those skills apply in the long term, in school, in the world.”
Though the increased workload around test-taking time was stressful, Campana and the students acknowledged it was doable.
“It will serve them well in the long run,” Campana said. “When they get to high school and college, a lot of testing all falls in a block. They have to learn to manage that. I don’t think we’ve done them any harm by doing that.”
For now, Sullivan is happy to take her remaining finals with a little more free time to study the subjects at hand.