Life is Epic when It’s Academic!

Have no fear, the It’s Academic team is here! It’s Academic is a national quiz show where high schoolers answer a variety of questions ranging from subjects like math, pop trivia, history, etc. The show promotes academic excellence and understanding, along with indescribable teamwork. Teams can consist of 9 students up to 35 students, depending on the school. It’s fast-paced, unpredictable, and entertaining! You could only imagine the adrenaline rush trying to answer the host’s questions first. 

An interview was conducted with Mr. Joe Caulfield, the coach of the It’s Academic team at Blake. With coaching It’s Academic for 27 years, Caulfield has experienced it all. He quotes, “It’s very exciting, and we’re good at it, and success, success is fun.” He describes the practices consisting of different scrimmages and periodic tests every 2 weeks. It’s so competitive, you would think they were already on the show playing. Within the team, he makes sure that everyone knows everything, increasing diversity and the probability of winning. They also incorporate practicing with buzzers for speed, testing, and pushing limits that were possibly unreachable in previous years. Caulfield explains the importance of experiments and practice, diving into some life lessons along the way. 

Blake High School competed against 76 schools this year and received the title of first-place winners, making it its seventh championship within almost three decades. The seniors who played in the starting rounds this year were Fredrick Smith, Nikhil Paranjape, and Nathan Suddleson. Nikhil described its Academics as exciting, preparing him for nationwide tests such as the SATs, ACTs, and more. 

Safe to say, our It’s Academic team is not only competitive, but also very open and catered to anyone who wants to join! You will possibly compete against 70 to 80 schools in the DMV area (and also be on national TV)! With a coach who is more than attentive and involved in the team, you will be assured to learn thousands of facts that can be written down on your math homework or science homework.