Clashing of the Cardinals

Sophia Zhao

Students fill the seats in LGI 2 to watch teachers compete against Quiz Bowl club members. Many students received extra credit for attending.

Grace Turney and Sophia Zhao
Feb 9, 2023

A team of teachers faced off against Quiz Bowl club members, meeting in LGI 2 for the annual Cardinal Clash competition hosted by Quiz Bowl Club. The teachers claimed victory and the title of Cardinal Clash champions on Jan. 30th while the students won on the 31st. The quiz entailed questions about various topics like literature and history.

“I think this event is probably the most fun event we do all year,” junior and competitor Patrick Shaw said. “It’s people we know and see every day, and it’s a lot more casual than the normal competitions.”

Shaw said he considers himself to be “pretty nerdy”, which was one of the reasons why he decided to join the club.

The team of club members discuss their answer. Questions ranged from literature to history and more. (Sophia Zhao)

“I was encouraged to join clubs when I came here,” Shaw said. “I saw Quiz Bowl [Club] and I thought it was interesting because I like trivia. I went to meetings and I thought it was fun, so I kept going.”

Besides competing students, dozens of other students flocked to the LGI to spectate the event, which cost $5 a ticket.

“It was fascinating to me that so many kids just knew the answers off the top of their head,” sophomore and spectator Elijah Johnson said. “They’re really smart.”

Sophomore and spectator Jasmine Garcia said she found the competition entertaining to watch.

The scoreboard kept track of how many points each team obtained. Both the teacher team and student team was able to win once throughout the two-day event. (Sophia Zhao)

“I learned that I have a lot of room for improvement, and the competitors inspired me to learn about new subjects,” Garcia said. “They also inspired me to just have fun while answering questions.”

While students watched their Quiz Bowl peers from the audience, competitor and HADV English I teacher Elizabeth Chapman reminisced on high school memories.

“I love being able to support clubs at Bellaire, and Cardinal Clash is such a long-standing tradition that I was really honored to be asked,” Chapman said. “I was on the Latin Quiz Bowl team when I was in high school, so this took me back a few decades.”

Chapman said she enjoyed watching her students succeed in the event.

“The best part about competing was seeing the students get questions right that were based on what we had learned in class,” Chapman said. “Even though we lost, that made me feel like we won.”