Quiz Bowl and Student Council partnered to host their Trivia Night event on Nov. 11 from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. in the auditorium. Over 180 spectators watched 10 teams compete.

Goon Gang 2.0 won first place with 290 points, followed by Palantir and the Super Stats Squad with 250 and 230 points, respectively.

“There were six themes of questions, with six questions per theme,” senior and Vice President of Quiz Bowl Lionel Zhang said. “Teams had 10 seconds to respond and could play powerups if they answered three questions correctly in a row.”

Powerups included the ability to make a player plank for one round and prevent them from answering, the chance to give two answers at the same time, the option to ask someone in the audience for help, and the power to nullify powerups used by opposing teams.

First time competitor and junior Aayush Khadse was part of Palantir and won a free brunch voucher at KP’s Kitchen.

“My team competed because we wanted extra credit for statistics, but I would compete again next year because this prize is pretty good,” Khadse said.

Student Council also organized a six-question trivia and raffle for the audience with six plushie prizes, with sophomore Abigail Gallardo winning the grand prize: a $50 Chick-fil-A gift card.

For spectator and junior Skylar Yuen, listening to people answer questions was fun and memorable, but so was watching people get stumped.

“It was funny when no one knew the answer,” Yuen said. “I would consider competing next year to exercise my general knowledge.”

Behind the scenes, Quiz Bowl and Student Council faced challenges in logistics and advertising.

“We didn’t have advertising up on Thursday and Friday, and we were supposed to sell tickets on those days,” Zhang said. “For the actual execution of Trivia Night, we had time management issues.”

Despite these obstacles, turnout increased from last year and Zhang viewed the event as an improvement.

“I think this year was better than last year,” Zhang said. “It was shorter, the questions were better and it was more accessible to people who don’t participate in Quiz Bowl.”

Student Council historian and sophomore Chloe Ray promoted Trivia Night through social media and word of mouth, but most people only bought tickets the day of.

“A lot of people just didn’t have money at the time, so there were way more people that were buying tickets today than any other day,” Ray said. “People finally had money and teachers were finally advertising to their students.”

Looking ahead, Ray aims to increase turnout, despite this year’s being “really good.”

“I hope that there’s even more people coming each year, that the number grows exponentially,” Ray said. “I also just hope that there’s more excitement and participation from the audience.”

To keep up with Quiz Bowl and Student Council, follow their Instagram @bellairequizbowl and @bellaire.stuco and Remind at@quizbhs and @stuco-card.