It’s Quiz Bowl season and the third annual California Cup is coming up at UC Berkeley, with quiz teams from across California lining up to participate.

The Quiz Bowl is a competition between school teams from around Northern California, comprised of students coached by a teacher. Teams sign up to enter tournaments or single games around the Bay Area. Games function much like Jeopardy, with students buzzing in to answer questions. However, the catch is that in a Quiz Bowl game, if they get the first question right, they must answer two more difficult questions.

Mountain View’s team, Quiz Kids, is coached by Christopher Chang, a math teacher at MVHS. According to Chang, Quiz Kids isn’t generally very big, with a total number of students at around 8-10.

“This is actually my first year coaching,” Chang said. “These are very competitive events that our students really enjoy.”

If a student is doing exceptionally well, they may be considered to compete nationally. These students must take a preliminary test before they are allowed to compete nationally, however. If they are selected, then they may compete on a team of “all-stars” from their respective states. In 2014, 17 states sent teams to compete. Senior Kevin Chan was the only student considered from Mountain View High School.

For other students, Quiz Kids is just a side activity.

“At first I joined just because I like trivia,” junior Deo Joshi said. “I really liked the competitiveness of it and I stayed part of it since.”

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