Eighth grader Adam Tawil is one of the members of Greenhill’s Middle School Quiz Bowl team who has one more shot at the Middle School National Championship Tournament.

It’s one more shot to prove that his team is the best, something he says he has been looking forward to for the whole season.

“The national competition is a culmination of everything that we’ve gone through from fifth grade all the way on,” Tawil said. “It is a chance to showcase what you’ve learned.”

Middle School Quiz Bowl Coach James Herman has worked with Tawil and his teammates for the past few years.

“Our goal is to always qualify as many teams for nationals, and to be as competitive locally as we can be,” Herman said. “We want to be known as not just great Quiz Bowl players, but great kids. Kids who lift each other up and are supportive.”

Looking forward to nationals, Herman says he wants his teams to qualify for the playoffs in the tournament.

“When students are organizing practicing amongst themselves, with the four kids that are going, then I think it becomes much more real and also lets them know what they need to focus more on,” Herman said.

Tawil says his first Quiz Bowl experience was fun when he started the activity in fifth grade. He says he loves the high stakes environment and the amount of teamwork that Quiz Bowl builds.

“It’s fun to do it,” Tawil said. “That’s really what it comes down to.  I really love to do it.”

Tawil describes his skill at Quiz Bowl as running a race, with there always being someone to pass until you are first, or the best in Quiz Bowl, which acts as a motivator to strive for the best.

The two Greenhill Middle School teams going to nationals are team A and B. Greenhill has 11 Middle School Quiz Bowl teams in total.  Team members switch up sometimes for different tournaments, so teams are constantly changing.

For the other nine teams not going to the national competition, their last tournament will be a local invitational tournament on April 5, a little bigger than the usual ones that Greenhill participates in.

To qualify for the Middle School National Championship Tournament, which is sponsored by the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, a team needs to finish in the top 15% of finishers in a tournament. For Greenhill, the status of who will be going to Nationals will depend on the tournament where the most Greenhill teams finished in the top 15%.

Throughout the season, the Greenhill A and B teams have been very competitive, with Greenhill A winning every tournament except for two, and with Greenhill B winning one. Both teams qualified in the first tournament of the year, as Greenhill A won first place, and Greenhill B tied for fifth place.

Tawil says his ultimate goal is to win nationals. He feels confident going into the tournament. He says that he is ready for a deep run because his team has improved in the last year.

“Everyone on the team has improved, and they’ve all done very well,” Tawil said. “I think we have a very good chance at going really far into nationals.”

He says his ultimate motivator is a tournament earlier in the year, where his team lost in the first round of the playoffs. This moment continues to act as a driving source and a motivation for him every day that shows nothing is ever guaranteed.

Herman says he sometimes thinks about how exciting it would be to win the national title.

“It would be an incredible achievement for the school and for the program, but I don’t want to put pressure on them [Middle School Quiz Bowl students],” Herman said.

Herman says he has enjoyed working with this particular group of eighth graders.

“[I’m proud of] working with them for four years, seeing them grow as leaders,” Herman said.

Herman says that he won’t judge based on the outcome of the if it was a successful tournament, since he acknowledges how competitive nationals is are with at least 160 schools.

“I would say for big picture, what I look for, really what any coach looks for is continuing steady improvement.” Herman said. “Winning tournaments is one measure, but you’re also looking at our kids getting better individually.”