Hearing-impaired students compete at Academic Bowl

By Jacob Lammers
ESC Communications

For a group of ESC students at Upper Arlington High School, the national Academic Bowl presented a unique chance to flex their academic muscles while also socializing with other hearing-impaired students.

	Click to enlarge         ESC Teacher Lisette Tedeschi (back row left) and Educational Interpreter Sarah McKinney (back row right) pose with students at the 16th annual Academic Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Quintina, a senior, made her third trip to the Academic Bowl, which is presented at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The 16th annual competition features 80 teams of 320 deaf and hard of hearing high school students from across the country and Canada.

“It’s really good for deaf people because it brings us all together,” said Quintina, who specialized in math for the competition. “There’s no communication barrier. You can speak with each other without an interpreter. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”

The Jeopardy-style quiz tournament took place in April. Questions revolved around topics such as  history and government; language and literature; science and technology; deaf studies; and pop culture.

“I was very impressed. They did an awesome job. They had to play a lot of games in a short amount of time, but stuck with it,” said Lisette Tedeschi, ESC teacher and coach for the four-person team.

	Click to enlarge         Upper Arlington High School students show off their Buckeye pride at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Tedeschi and Educational Interpreter Sarah McKinney met with the students throughout the year to prepare them for the competition. This year marked the eighth time the Upper Arlington students have participated in the exclusive competition.

The ESC-Upper Arlington team placed 24th out of 80 teams.

Russell, a sophomore, participated in the Academic Bowl for the first time this year. His specialty was history and current events.

“I really thought it was awesome, amazing,” Russell said. “I liked all parts of the competition. You have to use different skills – buzzing quickly and speed reading. You also have to spill out everything you know.”

Although she was familiar with the competition, Quintina said she and her teammates had to fight for each win.

“I liked competing as a group, discussing and brainstorming answers,” she said.

Michael and his teammate Colin, both seniors, felt the team worked great together and fed off each other’s academic strengths. Michael added that the Academic Bowl allowed him to meet other deaf students from around the country.

“Great experience – it was a different world. I have a lot of hearing friends, but there was a lot of deaf students so it was an exciting experience,” said Michael, who plans to join Colin at Gallaudet in the fall.

Quintina also plans to continue her education at Rochester Institute of Technology with aspirations to major in engineering.

Aside from the competition and socialization, Tedeschi sees the Academic Bowl as a way to challenge her students and help them reach their potential.

“They’re able to see and meet students that are reaching higher than they are,” Tedeschi said. “It helps them expand their expectations.”