Front of Central Hall

Hillsdale Academy Quiz Bowl Team Wins WKAR QuizBusters Competition

December 14, 2015 – Hillsdale, MI

Hillsdale Academy’s quiz bowl team made school history on Tuesday, Dec. 8 by winning the Small-Schools Division of WKAR’s QuizBusters competition. The Hillsdale Academy team unseated the reigning QuizBusters and Michigan High School Quiz Bowl State Championship class C/D champions, Lansing Homeschoolers, to win the 2015 QuizBusters Small-Schools Division title.

The 2015 Hillsdale Academy quiz bowl team members are John Jordan, Jonah Harman, Noah Heckenlively, Will Smith, Michael Craig, and Nick Rush. Andrew Holm, Hillsdale Academy Latin teacher, serves as team coach. Hillsdale Academy is an independent, classical K-12 day school located on the campus of Hillsdale College.

“The Hillsdale Academy quiz bowl team is continuing a tradition of excellence that includes five top-3 finishes at the class-C/D state tournament, two state championships and six individual All-State awards,” said Dr. Kenneth Calvert, headmaster of Hillsdale Academy. “The team looks to have a very good chance at adding more honors to that list at the state championships this spring.”

The final match of QuizBusters pits the winners of the Big-Schools Division and Small-Schools Division tournaments against each other. The Academy team played a competitive match but ultimately fell to Okemos, which also won the 2015 class-A state tournament in April.

Final results:

  • Round 1: Grass Lake (win)
  • Round 2: Fulton (win)
  • Round 3: Lansing Area Homeschoolers (win)
  • Round 4: Quincy (win)
  • Round 5: White Cloud (win)
  • Round 6: Okemos (loss to the Big-Schools Division champ)

Now in its 27th season, QuizBusters is produced by WKAR-TV, Michigan State University’s Public Broadcasting Service station. Schools from across mid-Michigan compete against one another throughout the fall, with winning teams receiving up to four $5,000 scholarships from Michigan State University.

The class-championship match against Lansing Homeschoolers will air on WKAR 23 on Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. The final match against Okemos will air on Jan. 30 at 6:00 p.m. Those matches are also be available to stream online at https://video.wkar.org/show/quizbusters/.

To learn more about Hillsdale Academy, go to academy.hillsdale.edu.

Download Press Release