The Academic Team is feeling optimistic about its season and is ready to tackle all of their matches.

Last year, the Academic Team was division champion and has started this season strong, defeating Southport in its second match. 

This year, the team will compete in a total of seven matches in addition to several tournaments. 

Coach Scott Simmonds feels optimistic about this year’s team.

“I feel like the team dynamic is very positive this year,” Simmonds says. “We have a lot of upperclassmen that are friends outside the Academic Team, which gives the team a very positive vibe.”

The Academic Team provides students with the opportunity to test their knowledge on a variety of subjects, including pop culture, history and math, among others. It also builds skills outside the academic arena.

 “Well, I haven’t been on it for very long, but it’s already given me more confidence because sometimes I have to take a shot on a question, and sometimes it doesn’t pay off, but when it does, it feels so good because it makes me realize that I know more than I think and that it’s important to trust myself,” junior Elaina Eells says.

Simmonds believes in the importance of Academic Team and how it promotes valuable assets to team members. 

“Academically, it is the culmination of their high school years,” Simmonds continues. “Our academic competitions pit high schools against each other in knowledge and skills that, at the highest academic levels, they should have learned. Socially, students have a chance to hang out with like-minded individuals to create experiences and memories to last a lifetime.”