Wednesday, Dec. 6, marked the first home match of the 2022-2023 season for Strath Haven’s Delco Hi-Q team, a quiz competition for high school students.
Although the competition started with some technical difficulties, the team pulled through and were able to compete, gaining almost 30 points.
A few days before the competition, sophomore Jaden Hunter readied herself, though she was later unable to go to the match due to an illness.
“I’m so hyped, man. I have been excited since that first practice round back in November, I’ve been studying my behind off,” she said.
When it came to why she loved Hi-Q, Hunter had quite a list of reasons.
“I get to skip school, which is always a plus. I also just, like, just enriching myself in different areas of expertise, so just learning about Shakespeare, and different literature and subjects like biology,” she said. “Being able to broaden my knowledge is important to me. And I also love the community. The team is great. Mr. Rothenbach is great. I’ve got so many friends. It’s just a great experience.”
Although Hunter ended up not being able to attend the match, her prior predictions of the outcome rang unnervingly true.
“I think we’re probably going to do better than Ridley, and we’re hoping to do better than Delaware County Christian School,” she said.
The Hi-Q team did end up beating Ridley in points, but was behind Delaware County Christian School. Thankfully, in Hi-Q, it doesn’t matter where you are ranked in each match. What is most important is how many points you rack up in total.
“Typical first competition for home teams and stuff is around 45 points. We got like, under 40, which was kinda like not like, bad, because it doesn’t really matter how many points you get per composition or placement,” sophomore Tanush Talekar said. “All that matters is how many points you accumulate over the three preliminary matches.”
The match started off with some technical difficulties.
“The buzzer got messed up, and the backup buzzer system also didn’t work, so Delaware County Christian School had to go to their school and get it,” Talekar said.
Founded in Delaware County in 1948, Delco Hi-Q is the oldest branch of a program that is now nationwide. Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (FMFCU) is the primary sponsor of Delco Hi-Q, with program management and production support from the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, according to the program’s website. Subjects in Hi-Q range from biology, to Shakespeare plays, to American history and famous authors.
For the students who were tackling these lengthy subjects for the first time and for the veterans, Talekar believes all performed admirably.
“I’m proud of our team. We did really well. They worked out their nervousness on stage,” he said. “A lot of first timers, I’m pretty sure there’s only like four people that have been on the team for more than just this year, me included.”
