Seeliger students seal Thinking Cap victory

A team of fifth-graders from Seeliger Elementary School clinched this year's title as the state's Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl champions.

"They were all so excited about it," said teacher Anne LeFevre, who helped coach the team. "They had a good team spirit."

The contest was developed in 1989 by an Iowa couple who were both avid trivia buffs. It has since grown into a nationwide contest administered over the computer.

Each team is given a list of 100 multiple-choice questions ranging from social studies to math and spelling. The students are scored on accuracy as well as speed.

Shannon Earwood, 11, was chosen as one who would listen to input from other team members then tell the typist which answer to select.

"It was really hard because everyone was screaming out different letters to pick," she said. "I had to pick one and it was really stressful."

But it also taught them an important lesson.

"Teamwork works best," said Ariel Heinz, 11. "You can't win by yourself. If I was on my own team, I couldn't have done it."

And they tried to apply that concept throughout the contest.

"Different people had different opinions so we all had to work together to come up with the answer," said Hannah Hein, 10.

It also strengthened their understanding of basic subjects.

"I wanted to see how much I could learn," said Lainey Henderson, 11. "I learned stuff about social studies and about math that I didn't know."

LeFevre said it was also a good opportunity for the students to apply the computer skills they've learned in school.

"They have to be really adept at computer knowledge," she said. "If they weren't fast, they wouldn't have won this."

Members of the team were Michelle Lassaline, Jaime Good, Karissa Pulizzotto, Ariel Heinz, Kathryn Lim, Lainey Henderson, Shannon Earwood, Hannah Hein and Libby Collins.

The coaches were Anne LeFevre, Karen Collier and Terri Strode.