Five Kannapolis Middle School students took first place honors at the regional North Carolina History competition held at Reed Gold Mine. Public, private and charter schools from the region participated in the Jeopardy-style competition that tested students’ knowledge of North Carolina geography and history from the founding of our state to the Civil War. Students were also responsible for knowing factual information about the state’s historic sites.
Kannapolis coaches Doug Byrnes and Porsche Sims worked with the students on reading, quizzing and remembering the historical facts.
“Not only did the students learn the history of our state, they also learned how to coach each other, and explain concepts to each other so they could remember them,” Sims said.
Kannapolis students practiced every Wednesday afternoon, creating questions and making up practice games to help them learn and relate to the information.
The North Carolina History Quiz Bowl was once a state-wide competition held at regional state historic sites. Teams that won the regional competitions then went on to compete in a state competition held in Raleigh.
“The funding for this competition was one of the first things cut by the General Assembly. Since then, we have worked with Reed Gold Mine to try and keep a local version of the competition alive,” Byrnes said.
Site Manager Susan Smith has worked hand-in-hand with Byrnes to keep the competition in the area.
Smith told the schools that she loves having quiz bowl at the mine because it helps bring history alive and hearing students recite history that many adults don’t even know is a great thing.
“We would love to have more schools join the competition,” Byrnes said.
He explained that it is an easy group to coach and that the students are the ones responsible for all the hard work. History is so much more than just books and dust, he said.
“All the coaches here expressed the fact that the kids brought not only knowledge but a quest to know more, see more. We all hope that they continue with this quest as they grow into adulthood.”
For more information about the regional quiz bowl competition, contact Doug Byrnes at Kannapolis Middle School at doug.byrnes@kcs.k12.nc.us .