Members of It’s Academic deliberate during a practice after school.

by Randy Wang ‘24

With no requirements such as GPA or specific classes, students from all grade levels can compete and answer trivia questions in the It’s Academic club. These competitions are often featured on TV, with Sherwood facing off against different schools within MCPS and around the area.
The club meetings are held every Wednesday after school from 2:30 to 4:00, where the club applicants go through practice questions for their competitions. The TV competitions are held on NBC4 Washington, where 81 schools compete in the single-elimination tournament in groups of three. Only three schools compete each show. The goal of the show is to answer correctly and quickly to the questions given by the show’s host. Some questions include guest questions, where notable people in the government, business, sports, or arts may come onto the show to ask a question. The club also participates in off-TV competition, the MCPS Academic Beltway League, where there may be an unlimited number of contestants competing four at a time. Sherwood won the 2020-2021 season, beating Rockville.

“It’s Academic’s purpose is to give students who like trivia and game shows a place to compete against other like-minded students,” said Scott Allen, a social studies teacher who has sponsored the It’s Academic club for ten years. Social studies teacher Michael King is also a sponsor of the club. Allen hopes It’s Academic is a place where students may appreciate the different topics they learn while participating in the club.

According to club member senior Joseph Hartlove, It’s Academic is beneficial for members’ academic performance and college applications. In the club, students are encouraged to work together and gain collaborative skills, helpful in many academic and working environments.
Practices are structured to be similar to the competitions they compete in. Members simulate the games and watch videos to look at strategies for the competition. To help build knowledge, the club does specialized questions for specific subjects. As explained by Allen, students eventually will be able to recognize common answers to questions with “Pavlovian clues.” One example of this is if a question asks for a European Grand Duchy, Luxembourg is almost always the right answer.

During the competitions, only two factors are required to win: the answer to the question and a fast finger on the buzzer. “So much of the games come down to who is the fastest buzzer,” explained Allen.

Students shouldn’t be afraid of joining. “When I encourage other students to join this club, I often hear nervousness, with responses like ‘I don’t think I’m smart enough to join,’” said Hartlove. When starting something new, many people struggle with the new environment. Over time, students will improve and learn new things throughout their season in It’s Academic.