On Sunday, November 16th, four Montrosians and one Montrose teacher convened at the WGBH Headquarters to participate in “Super Sunday,” the first step in WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. The team members Brigid Bane ‘16, Laura Bergemann ‘15, MaryGrace King ‘16, and Elle Schirripa ‘15, led by their coach Ms. Cusack, represented Montrose among the 121 other schools who also participated in this event. Also on the Montrose Quiz Team are two alternates, Monica Stack ‘15 and Yvonne Niebuhr ‘18, as well as organizer Katrin O’Grady ‘15.
Super Sunday consists of each team answering one hundred trivia questions, in a separate room with two moderators- which means there isn’t any direct competition between teams yet. Despite this, the stakes of Super Sunday are high: out of the 121 teams participating, only 16 will advance. Furthermore, only two of those teams can be represented by private schools. While this number accurately reflects the ratio of public-to-private schools in Massachusetts, it makes the prospect of Montrose advancing very challenging. This is also the first year that private schools are eligible to compete in the High School Quiz Show, so Montrose is very proud to be a part of this inaugural opportunity for independent schools.
The Montrose Quiz Team had a blast answering the questions, making connections to our classes and even to the funny anecdotes teachers often tell at Montrose – who knew they would come in handy one day? Ms. Cusack, who was also keeping score in the room with the girls, said that she was very impressed with the Montrose team. “They showed great sportsmanship, had a lot of fun, and answered a lot of questions right,” she said. “Even the moderator and the scorekeeper commented on Montrose’s spirit.”
The results of Super Sunday are graded and verified by the WGBH moderators in the coming week, so the Montrose Quiz Team is still waiting to hear how they did. Will Montrose’s first-ever quiz team advance to the televised rounds? Brigid Bane says the idea seems “scary, but also like it would be really fun.” Whatever the case, Montrose is glad to be included in the competition.