On the morning of April 4, Haven’s Hi-Q team woke up to a phone call from Interim Superintendent Dr. James Scanlon, informing them that all schools in the district would be closed due to a storm the night before.
With the national competition taking place on Zoom in a few hours at the high school’s principal’s conference room, the team had to re-coordinate plans to make it work.
“Rescheduling a regular season match when all of the districts are in southeastern Pennsylvania is logistically complex,” Hi-Q adviser Mr. Bill Rothenbach said. “[It’s even harder] to get four schools in four states and three time zones to reset their schedule.”Rothenbach was on his way to school when he received the news that the district was closed for the day. He remembers receiving an email, a phone call, and a text from principal Mr. Andrew Benzing stating, “We need to talk.”
“I knew that he [Benzing] would find a way to get the kids here, and that’s exactly the first thing he said to me— ‘What do we do now to get them ready to go,’” Rothenbach said.
Power stayed on at the high school, and the Hi-Q team took their seats in the principal’s conference room at 11:40 a.m.
The biggest stage for Hi-Q was a national Zoom call.
“I think being on stage is a feeling that can’t be replicated by being on a Zoom call,” senior captain Sebastian Reed said. “So, I generally prefer that as an experience, but I think the Zoom works fine. There weren’t any tech issues. Generally, it all went smoothly.”
Zoom eliminates the chance for buzz-in questions and pick-up points or “steals.”
“There are several categories today where we probably could have accrued a couple more points if we had the chance to buzz in but the technology is probably a little bit beyond us, or a little bit more than the Hi-Q organization can handle with so many moving parts,” Rothenbach said.
According to Reed, the Panthers have been able to win matches by points from pick-up points. Some pressure was lifted without the need to buzz in, but any question they answered wrong could affect them greatly.
After multiple sound checks, the competition started. The Panthers pulled ahead after the first four rounds, leading by four points.
Although there was not a chance for pick-up points, the Panthers were communicating the answers to each of the other team’s questions, getting most of them correct.
“Since I don’t sit on stage with them, I don’t hear them, but knowing that they knew a lot of the questions the other teams were asked, it would have been nice to accumulate those points,” Rothenbach said.
Haven dominated for the rest of the match, winning by seven points and bringing home the championship.
As soon as Quizmaster Rick Durante announced the winner of the competition, Rothenbach allowed the team to celebrate. Everyone put their hands in the air, shouting in success.
Reed answered four questions correctly, contributing 16 points to the total 41.
“I don’t have to read King Henry ever again, and I’m so happy! I’m so relieved. It was very stressful. I’m so glad I did it, and I’m so glad it’s over,” Reed said. “All in all, I found this much less stressful than normal season matches. I think it felt less formal, perhaps because of all the tech issues and the general silliness that was going on.”
After the match, the team celebrated with a poker round, many snacks, and pizza.
“I’m happy that we managed to do this now during our last year together and that we get to celebrate this together before we go,” Reed said. “As much as I like to complain about some of the others, I’m really proud of the team, and I’m so glad we got to do this together.”
The championship win marks the team’s first-ever national championship and concludes their season. They will be presented the Henderson Trophy for the national championship and the Donna Zerby Delco Hi-Q Championship trophy from their Delco Hi-Q championship on Thursday, April 10, at the Franklin Mint Credit Union’s annual banquet.
