Knowledge bowlers keep their minds out of the gutter

And in the realm of lofty ideas and noble insights. A new season begins with high hopes for the NUHS Knowledge Bowl team

Taylor Hauenstein, Contributor

December 20, 2023

Some Knowledge Bowlers get ready for a weekly practice near Mr. Bute’s room

Taylor Hauenstein

On a chilly early morning, you might see many students clustered at the front of the school and wonder, “What are they doing?”

Those students are more than likely getting ready for a Knowledge Bowl meet, and the excitement is high among them.

Not only are students excited, but the teachers who manage the team are excited; since about 70 students are participating in Knowledge Bowl this year, four teachers are working on it: Mr. Bute, Mr. Foley, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Graham. “I’m always excited about Knowledge Bowl because it is a competition, but it’s also fun, and it’s a game we get to play, but it’s a game about academics, and the amount of kids we have is exciting. It’s a bit stressful at times trying to organize things, but I have a lot of help from Mr. Foley, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Graham,” Head Coach Mr. Bute said.

Head coach of Knowledge Bowl, Mr. Bute (Taylor Hauenstein)

With such a large team, volunteers usually step in to help. “We have a lot of volunteers, like Mrs. Stewart, who volunteers her time to come to practices; we have several parents who come as advisors, readers, and judges. It’s a big, big effort to get parents to come and help, and that’s good,” Mr. Bute said.

With this many students in Knowledge Bowl, the coaches have decided to cap the number of teams they are taking with them to meets this year. “We are going to take ten teams to a meet, and then we are going to rotate some of our newer people and younger people, but we are going to take only the top teams with us to all the meets,” Mr. Bute said.

With five people per team, that’s still about 50 kids going to these meets; such an extensive effort usually requires two buses to bring all these students to these meets. Despite this, everyone is still encouraged to join Knowledge Bowl.”The nice thing about Knowledge Bowl is that it has something for everybody as far as if you’re super competitive, we have really competitive teams, and if you really enjoy just competing with your friends, we can allow that too, or at least a couple friends,” Mr. Bute said.

With all this effort and engagement, it’s no wonder everyone involved is excited about the new Knowledge Bowl season.