North Central and Ridgeline High School duke it out in ‘nail-biter’ civics bowl competition

Dozens of parents and teachers filled bleachers, their eyes glued on their students from Ridgeline and North Central high schools fiercely dueling for a trophy. The competition was tight, and the lead volleys between the North Central Wolfpack and Ridgeline Falcons, spurred hushed murmurs from the parents in the audience.

“That was a nail-biter,” one parent whispered after a particularly close exchange.

It’s a common sight at any given high school, though the scene that captivates the crowd on this occasion isn’t a game of football or a track event that typically draw onlookers, but the filming of the KSPS PBS Civics Bowl competition at its studio.

The annual quiz show is a tournament-style contest between 10 area high schools and their most civically minded pupils, who battle to answer history, politics and government questions. Ridgeline and North Central defeated the other eight area schools and clashed in the finale.

Though their passions lie in and outside of civics, players said civics education is important, regardless of your field of study.

“It’s important to be mindful of those around you so that you can have your input and your say on it, so that you can take full advantage of the system and advocate for your own beliefs,” said North Central senior Ezra Hicks.

The close city-versus-Liberty Lake match between North Central and Ridgeline was filmed in March and aired Monday on PBS. After tense shakeups like a midgame point readjustment, the North Central Wolfpack secured a win with 205 to 200 points, answering a 20-point question right before the final timer ended.

Champions felt “jazzed” after their big win, dreading a duel with the notoriously competitive Ridgeline. Ferris players, who met defeat a week prior, warned North Central of Ridgeline’s tenacity and prowess.

“I’m honestly really shocked that we won; I just heard that they beat Ferris and I was like, ‘OK, Ferris is the one to beat and they just won,’” said North Central’s Callie Toney, still reeling from the close victory. “But I’m really happy that we did it.”

Despite the daunting foe, North Central players repeated their team motto in their heads to keep their calm: “We’re shooting for clay tiles.”

“It’s from a Chinese proverb meaning don’t get too stressed out,” said North Central’s Tommy Elliot.

“We’ve been preparing for a little while,” Hicks said. “We knew that we could definitely win, this was definitely a realistic goal, with just preparing and learning a lot of the material that was needed.”

Students did so extensively in advance of their moment on the big screen and found that practicing for the Civics Bowl directly benefited their studies in their government classes, and vice versa. “Paying attention in class,” Toney said, is her best advice for future Civics Bowl entrants.

Outside of class, the North Central team met for an hour each Monday morning to practice, using ChatGPT to generate questions.

Their practice paid off – some questions generated by their AI coach appeared on the game show verbatim.

“It was hilarious; you should have heard everyone clicking in at the same time,” said Samuel Parker, on the North Central team.

Students reviewed each amendment and article to the Constitution over a dozen times the week leading up to the finale, to keep it fresh in their memory.

“Flashcards, just over and over and over again, just constant repetition,” Toney said.

The determination stemmed not just from the desire for glory for their school, but an interest in engaging in their democracy.

“All the team members themselves, they want to be a part of the government. They want to be active citizens,” said Brittney Bergman, one of the Ridgeline coaches.

“Civics in general is just super important to know about what forms our country so we can learn how to take that and be leaders in our world,” Toney said. “Am I going to need to know exactly what Marbury v. Madison officially does? Probably not, but I think it’s really good to know it anyway, because then we can build off of that.”

Bergman recruited the team from the existing knowledge bowl team which placed seventh at the statewide knowledge bowl competition in March, days before the filming of the Civics Bowl finale. The state competition served as a bit of a warmup for the team, loosening up their button-pressing finger muscles for the finale.

It was a much-needed conditioning, as players frantically and repeatedly tapped their buttons during several questions on the head-to-head round, sometimes before hearing the host, Gary Stokes, finish the question.

Ridgeline also solicited the help of ChatGPT’s information database to draft questions. On the drives to and from filming, the team would congregate in the back of the bus and quiz each other on government facts.

In practice, they conducted a song about the branches of government to aid in memorization.

It’s more than just a quiz for students. While their immediate recall of specific answers to questions like “How much tea did protesters dump during the Boston Tea Party?” and “How many colonies were needed to ratify the Constitution?” are likely to fade over time, they’ll retain the importance of civic involvement.

Bergman, who also teaches civics, watches past and current episodes in her classes, hoping to spur more of her students to participate in their government.

“Seeing other teenagers be civically engaged is motivating,” Bergman said. “I tell them, my number one goal and being a civics teacher, is I want the young age bracket to vote more.”

The more participation, the better, said Ridgeline’s Parker Clevenger.

“A populace who understands what’s going on in their government is going to have a lot better chance of creating a good government,” Clevenger said.

The finale of the quiz bowl aired Monday night on KSPS PBS. It is available to watch on the PBS website, as are the eight previous episodes.