On Thursday, April 16th, the school’s Hi-Q team participated in the national Hi-Q competition. Arlington competed against three other teams from various states, and placed fourth overall. Regardless of the result, making it this far is a major accomplishment for the team. It is the first time Arington’s Hi-Q team has made it to nationals since 2008. Perhaps what is most remarkable is that each Hi-Q member must study a specific set of areas for the competitions. One person will study Shakespeare and American history, while another studies math and science; this means everyone must trust that the rest of the team is well versed in their material. Aysia Brenner ‘17 said, “Getting to nationals was a lot of fun, but a lot of work, too.”

The way the national competition is conducted is somewhat different from the normal Hi-Q matches. Typically, there are three teams lined up at a set of tables and they use the traditional method of hitting a buzzer to answer a question. Instead of this, the Hi-Q team went to a board room in the district office and had a video conference with the other teams. No buzzers were in the room and each team had a speaker with them to read off the questions. Due to the internet latency between states, the bonus question, typically available to whoever buzzes first, was open to everyone. Brenner said, “It was weird to be the only team in the room, it didn’t seem quite as real.” Hannah Martian ‘16 said, “The setup was definitely a little disorienting at first.” However, this setup is perhaps the only efficient way to hold a national Hi-Q competition. Mr. Mendro, one of the club’s advisers, said, “The idea of a national competition is new due to technology.”

All in all, the Hi-Q team put an immense amount of effort into everything this year and it paid off in the end. Making it to nationals is a significant landmark for the team and promises further success next year since several members will continue to compete in the club. Yet, four of the members are seniors and will not be returning next year: James Piscioneri, Quinn James, Felix Neeleman, and Dakota Brenner. Many of them have done Hi-Q in previous years and Mr. Mendro said that the team had “good senior leadership this year.” Martian said, “Next year, I hope to see some new faces in Hi-Q and continue our winning streak, because we’ve been pretty successful the past few years.”