Heather Bell
After a successful season that led to a state championship, the Radford High School Scholastic Bowl team is heading to Chicago to try for a national championship.
Scholastic Bowl Coach Megan Thompson said her team is hard at work raising funds to travel to the Small School National Championship Tournament, an invitational sponsored by National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC that will be held in Chicago April 22-24. Thompson and 11 students plan to travel to Chicago for the competition.
Radford High School was the VHSL state champion for 2A schools.
“Advancing to the national level is an impressive progression,” said Thompson. “It will be the first time Radford has competed at such a high level, and Radford High School is one of only two schools representing the state of Virginia at this prestigious event.”
Thompson said after funding shortfalls dashed the team’s hope of attending nationals last year, she is glad they will get the chance to go this year.
“I am so excited to be taking a team to a national competition,” she said. “We qualified last year but we were unable to get the funds together to go, so the team has been working very hard to raise funds this year. We ran a raffle, hosted events at local restaurants, and sold chocolate-covered Easter eggs.
“The kids have worked hard, and I have been deeply touched by the amount of community support we are receiving,” she added. “People are going out of their way to show their support, even in $5 and $10 donations. It’s clear that the Radford community is proud of this team. Donations to help us pay for transportation and accommodation in Chicago are greatly appreciated.”
Checks can be mailed to Radford High School c/o Scholastic Bowl. Scholastic Bowl is a Virginia High School League quiz-based competition that tests players on a wide variety of academic subjects.
