Silas Wang.
Isabella Ferrell.
Carter Herron.
Steven Tian.
Venket Das.
Make a note of the names of the above, all students at Morgantown High School.
That’s because you’ll want to make sure they aren’t anywhere near the proceedings if, say, you want to play along with that evening’s “Jeopardy!” match or break out the old Trivial Pursuit game just for fun.
The quintet comprises Morgantown High’s History Bowl team.
Make that, the nationally ranked History Bowl team.
In February, the MHS scholars of significant times gone by fell second to only Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown Day in a virtual event to earn passage to national championship in May, which will also be online due to COVID concerns.
There were 50 teams from across the country in that tournament, and second place also meant the best showing from a team from a publicly funded school, organizers said.
Which is history in itself, said Alex Godfrey, the MHS social studies teacher who serves as team advisor.
“I’m really proud of them,” he said.
“They work hard. They’re self-directed. They’re incredibly smart.”
“Self-directed,” is the watch-word, their coach said.
“They’re basically doing this on their own time,” he said. “Through the pandemic, they worked out their own schedule.”
Fridays, in particular, have been reserved for deep-dives into the significant events of times gone by.
And, he said, this isn’t your garden variety history, with names and dates by rote, along with the capsulized factoids – that can abandon one’s brain quicker than Hasdrubal (Hannibal’s brother) went out in the Battle of the Metaurus, in 207 B.C.
“Yeah, this is serious,” Godfrey said.
Dates are still being finalized for the national tournament, and the teacher said he won’t be surprised one bit if history repeats itself.
“They’re amazing kids,” he said. “They make it really easy for me.”
TWEET@DominionPostWV
