Hands on your buzzers trivia fiends, here鈥檚 a couple questions for you.
Short snapper: Which TV game show personality once hosted Reach For The Top?
Correct: Jeopardy鈥檚 Alex Trebek was national quizmaster from 1969-1973. 聽
Local question: For the first time in its history, Nova Scotia鈥檚 Reach for the Top program has a sponsor. Who is it?
For another ten points: AV俱乐部.
NSAC to host the finals
This Saturday and Sunday (April 28-29), the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) in Truro is hosting the provincial Reach for the Top championships.
Only one of the eight Nova Scotian high school teams will go to the national finals in Toronto at the end of May to vie for the coveted top trophy. Historically, the winning team raises its own funds for the trip, but this year, AV俱乐部 will help foot the bill.
AV俱乐部 will also cover the rental of space at the NSAC. It鈥檚 a relief for Provincial Coordinator Hans Budgey (BSc '87, Biology), whose love for the program has led him to stump up the money himself to see the competitions continue.
鈥淚t's a help to me personally, and it will lessen the burden on the players,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he two contributions are very, very important to keeping the program going.鈥澛�
Connecting with sharp students
Alumni Relations and the Campus Bookstore also donated Dal-branded gifts for students, and Registrar鈥檚 Office recruiters will cheer on students at the competition and present everyone with swag bags.
Recruiter Kate Somers is looking forward to meeting the competitors and handing the聽 champs an oversize cheque.
"This type of event is a really good opportunity for us to connect with very bright and well-rounded high school students,鈥� says Ms. Somers. 鈥淚t gives us a chance to chat with students from Yarmouth, Sydney and anywhere in between.鈥�
Creating a great team
Canada鈥檚 Reach for the Top started as a national television show in 1966. After the CBC cancelled the show in 1985, thousands of high school students across the country continued to compete off-camera.
Teams are a carefully assembled balance of students who can handle a barrage of trivia questions ranging from pop culture, mathematics, sciences, history and politics.
Keith Lehwald, graduating this year from Dal with a combined honours degree in political science and French, was on the Halifax West High School team. He remembers practicing every week, answering shootouts, snappers and local knowledge questions, practising recall and buzzer reaction times. He loved it.
鈥淟ike any other extra curricular activity, you develop a camaraderie with your teammates,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou rely on them.鈥�
Be quick on the buzzer
You also develop a good base of general knowledge that can be applied anywhere from Dal鈥檚 T-room pub quiz nights to the law degree Mr. Lehwald is starting here next year.
鈥淚t's really good to be able to have that kind of knowledge and recall it very quickly,鈥� he says.
Mr. Budgey agrees. This competitive outlet teaches them research skills and team work. 鈥淭hat makes a big difference in how they鈥檙e going to go on to live their lives afterwards,鈥� he says.
The mental quickness and broad-minded approach to learning appeals to recruiters like Ms. Somers. "Given how interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary a lot of the Dal programs are, it's a really good fit," she says. 聽
The competition is open to the public and will be held in the Haley Intstitute on the Nova Scotia Agricultural College campus from 10am to 4pm, April 28 and 29.
And for the competitors this week-end, alumnus Mr. Lehward has some advice: "Don't be afraid to be quick on the buzzer. If you are not 100% sure, don't wait, because someone else will grab it, and if they guess correctly, they will get the point."