Third Time’s A Charm – Team Champions at International History Bee and Bowl

After two years of losing the finals, at the International History Bee and Bowl, Island School’s varsity team came first overall! Individually, Job Tam won the senior Varsity division, while Van An Trinh was a finalist in the Junior Varsity division.

The International History Bee and Bowl is a buzzer-based quiz competition that challenges students’ knowledge of world history and general trivia. Students work as a team in the ‘Bowl’ category while the ‘Bee’ tests students’ breadth of knowledge individually. Students were tested on topics spanning ancient Egypt to modern American politics, covering facts about literature, science, politics, and art.

This year, Island School sent two batches of scholars to compete in five preliminary rounds against 35 teams from 15 different schools. After obtaining the highest average score, IS’ senior Bowl team faced off against International Christian School and Diocesan Boys’ School before ultimately obtaining the top spot. In the Bee, Adrian Tam, Job Tam and Van An Trinh all qualified in the top 6 students of their divisions, while Job took home a gold medal after also winning the finals.

“The IHBB really showed me the value of teamwork,” said Priscilla Lee after winning the competition. “Some of us knew the history of certain regions better than others, so by specialising we collectively had more knowledge than what any one person could do on their own.”

The teams would like to thanks Ms McPhee for her support organising and chaperoning the teams. The teams:

Junior Varsity Team: Yu Hang Hui, Zoe So, Madhura Tilve, Grace Zheng, Minnie Tse
Varsity Team: Priscilla Lee, Van An Trinh, Jaime Lam, Nicole Tam, Job Tam, Adrian Tam

Written by Grace Zheng, Media Team