Croton's Academic Knowledge Team Hits the Airwaves

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – Four Croton-Harmon High School students will be televised across the tri-state area on the academic quiz show, “The Challenge.” Members of the Croton Academic Challenge Team Intelligentsia can be seen on MSG, channel 14, in February.

“It’s drawn positive attention to our school, which has been awesome,” said CHHS teacher and coach Brett Bowden. “It’s helped students to focus even more on academics, and students who are not involved see their classmates on television or hear about their successes and want to get involved.”

Four members of CACTI competed on the show, seniors Sam Spero (team captain), Erik Olsson, and juniors Isabel Rothberg and Genevieve Lewis. Josh Blumberg served as an alternate. The team competed again Millbrook High School on the show, filmed in New York City, and hosted by former American Idol competitor Jared Cotter.

The team’s academic competitions are not limited to “The Challenge,” CACTI was on its way to the Westchester Academic Challenge Knowledge Organization (WACKO) competition when October’s freak snowstorm hit. The team also competed in the National Academic Championship in 2011, where Bowden was named National Coach of the Year.

All parts of academia are fair game for the challenges, both national and televised. The team studies solid academic questions, like “What is the slope of the function at the point where x = 1: y = x cubed?”

Popular culture and sports questions are also studied, like “Name the team mascot for the two Indiana schools in the Big Ten Conference.”

The CACTI squad practices twice a week, Tuesday and Thursdays, and competes in as many as three or more local tournaments a year. For more information on joining, students can see coach Bowden, or apply on the high school webpage.

Tune in to the MSG Varsity Network on channel 14 on February 1at 6:30 p.m. to see how CHHS’s Challenge team fared. Encore episodes will air on channel 12 on Saturday, February 4 and Sunday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Cortlandt and receive free news updates.