Holland Hall Academic Team Vies for National Honors
SCHOLARS: Members of the Holland Hall varsity academic team include, from left, Matt Baumer, Matt Pargeter, George Gibbs, Daniel Jouas and Mark Donaldson. The members graduated from Holland Hall this past spring.
MATTHEW W. GROSS for GTR Newspapers
The Holland Hall Academic Team has prepared for the semifinals of the National Academic Championship tournament in Chicago in late June. The group qualified for the tournament by winning the New Orleans phase of the competition at the end of May, beating out a field of 39 schools from across the country. They will now compete with three other teams for the National Academic Championship Title.
The Holland Hall Varsity Academic Team consists of five members, all who graduated this spring: Matt Pargeter, Mark Donaldson, George Gibbs, Daniel Jouas and Matt Baumer. Upper School faculty member Jayme Howland advises the team. Pargeter was named the Most Valuable Player at the New Orleans phase of the competition.
The Holland Hall team won their fourth straight 3A State Academic Team title this year.
The National Academic Championship focuses on academic information rather than trivia. Questions Unlimited provides the questions. There are four in each competition focusing on different types of questions: a warm-up round, toss-up questions with bonuses, a lightening round and a “Stump the Experts” section.
The National Academic Championship consists of three phases. The first two phases each yield one winner, and the third phase yields two winners. These four teams then compete in the semifinal of a single elimination round tournament for the national title. Holland Hall won the New Orleans phase of the tournament the last weekend in May, qualifying the team to compete at the next level. They defeated Clear Lake High School from Houston, Tex., with a final score of 460-285. According to the directors, this was one of the most difficult years of competition.
Though Holland hall has graduated its five varsity members, both the Novice and junior Varsity teams have also been successful. Coach Janie Howland is pleased with how the future of the team looks, saying, “It will be a totally different team next year, but in practices, the students have stepped up and I have been totally astonished at what they have been able to do.”
Holland Hall School is located at 5666 E. 81st Street in Tulsa. The telephone is 918-481-1111. For additional information, see www.hollandhall.org
Updated 06-30-2005
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