Format for 100

Published as a sidebar to Ed. magazine feature, “Quiz Kids.”

If you’ve never seen a high school quiz competition, think Jeopardy! but with teenagers, two teams, and without the answer being phrased as a question. Although every competition has its own format, most high school quiz competitions operate in similar manners. The schools, usually four students on each team, face off, answering a series of questions asked by the “quizmaster” for points. There are usually a series of “rounds.” During early rounds, the person who buzzes in first gets first shot at answering the question; wrong answers often don’t cost teams points. General questions are asked during most rounds; other rounds focus on specific categories such as Philosophy 101 or Creepy Crawlies. A lightning round involves rapid-fire questions posed to both teams in a short period of time — a minute or so. Sometimes, competitions include head-to-head matches between single players from each team. Students usually answer questions individually, although during the category rounds, students are allowed to huddle and, as a team, come up with one answer. The team with the most points at the end wins.