Portage High School’s English team took second place at yesterday’s DAC Academic Super Bowl competition. This year’s Academic Super Bowl theme was World War I, so the English Academic Teams read the Ernest Hemingway novel “A Farewell to Arms” and three additional poems from Americans authors during that time period.
During the competition, the teams answered questions about interpreting their readings. Sophomore member Nicholas Arman described the questions as difficult, making the competition a close one.
“It was pretty close for a while, but we got a couple of questions right and pulled ahead at the end,” Arman said.
Captain and senior Zachery Hatfield said that preparing for the competition was difficult, but winning second place made all of the team’s hard work rewarding.
Hatfield said Arman and juniors Kassandra Garay, Sanja Kirova and Kelly Schaffer practiced for a few months, and he credits them for being so dedicated to the team.
“Everyone actively participated in reading the book and attending the study sessions,” Hatfield said.
Arman is proud of his team’s achievement.
“I feel like we were able to accomplish something,” Arman said. “With all of the hard work we put in, we got second place.”
The team is coached by PHS English teacher Jodi Newby.