Worcester's South High to compete on GBH TV's 'High School Quiz Show'

WORCESTER — On Feb. 11, GBH TV viewers will be able to watch the city's own South High Community School face off against Andover High in a battle of wits, with both schools armed with trivia from across a variety of academic subjects including math, history, science, literature, civics and current events.

South High is one of 17 Massachusetts high schools participating on season 14 of "High School Quiz Show," which premieres on Feb. 4 on GBH, as well as on its YouTube channel.

South High's team consists of seniors Luca Frost and Helen Kennedy, junior Benedict Morrow, and sophomore Phoebe McDermott, with junior Laura Coderre and freshman Muriel Gibbons as alternates. The Colonels are coached by Kitren Farrell and Kayla Avellino.

Though previous seasons were held virtually due to the pandemic, this year's shows have returned to being taped completely in-person with a live studio audience.

The season plays out in weekly matches to advance in the bracket, each aiming to earn the title of "High School Quiz Show" state champion.

This will be South's fourth appearance in the competition, having reached the quarterfinals in 2020.

Months of preparation

Students have been preparing for this for the last four months, since tryouts for the team were held in September.

The team then meets weekly to prepare for the "Super Sunday Quiz Day" qualifying event in November, at which they go up against more than 70 other schools to be one of the 15 teams chosen for the show.

Once they qualified to compete, practice moved up to twice a week, said Farrell, with students also studying on their own, each developing a specialty in certain areas, such as geography, literature or the Constitution, and playing trivia games online.

Practice is more than hitting the books to brush of on trivia, though. The team also has to grow familiar with the format of the competition itself in a quiz show setting, in which some schools can have an advantage.

"Our weakness is not having access to a buzzer system that mimics the show," said Farrell. "Some of the suburban schools we face have not only a buzzer system to practice with, but an actual studio setup."

The regular meetups not only build academic knowledge, but also personal connections.

"You would be amazed at how much you can learn about a person through the things that they know about the world," said Coderre. "Throughout practices we not only learned new facts about the world but about each other. Although I have known everyone on this team for years, I really befriended them through this."

Radio and TV personality Billy Costa will be returning to host the show.

The match between South High and Andover High will air on GBH 2 TV at 6 p.m. on Feb. 11, and on the show's YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: South High Community School to compete on GBH 'High School Quiz Show'