Now in its fourth year, Battle of the Schools is a quiz held over six weeks that involves year five and six students from both private and public schools across our Region. The questions range from english, science, maths, history, geography and some really good general knowledge questions, along with some Bundaberg-specific questions.
The idea for Sugarland Plaza Battle of the Schools came about because we see a lot of support given to local, young sporting stars and thought it was time to highlight youngsters’ brains.
The most tense contest I’ve seen to date happened in 2020. The final was between St. Luke’s Anglican School and Bundaberg North State School. After some 2000 questions, St. Luke’s won by just one point. The quiz means a lot to the students and the North team was devastated. There were tears, both from the kids and myself. The winning team of students each won themselves a Microsoft Surface Pro Computer and the three running-up teams receive Microsoft products courtesy of Queensland Computers and also a cash prize from CQ University.
The kids get thrown some tough questions. Here’s some I struggled with:
In a school of 336 children, where only one third are girls, how many boys would there be? One of the kids buzzed in very quickly and said 224. I struggled with that. Maths wasn’t my strongest subject at school.
Name all the seven dwarfs from the fairy tale ‘Snow White’ – I can name six quickly and easily, but always forget about poor old Happy.
What name is given to the ancient Egyptian writing system? Hieroglyphics. There was no way I was getting that correct
The one question that surprised me the most was how to spell the word Mississippi. A boy buzzed in and rattled off the answer so quickly.
Every year, I am more and more impressed by how smart our local kids are. Some of the questions; I don’t have a clue what the answer is. But a kid will buzz in instantly, without hesitation, and get it correct. The grownups all sit there looking at each other in amazement.
Tracey Sergiacomi is one half of the Matty and Trace breakfast due on 93.9 HitzFM, weekdays from 6am.