Lovell Knowledge Bowl team takes second place at end-of-season challenge

Lovell Middle School’s Knowledge Bowl team took a respectable second place win against nine other schools at the Big Horn Basin Knowledge Bowl competition held at Riverside Middle School in Basin on May 8.

The students brought home a shiny, new trophy for their efforts after a full school year of practicing their knowledge of math, science, literature, history, current events, geography, art, sports, music and more.

Middle school students from Powell, Cody, Rocky Mountain, Burlington, Riverside, Greybull, Worland and Ten Sleep participated in the event. Powell Middle School took first place.

This is the 37^th year LMS students have competed in the challenge. Sponsoring teacher Natalie Logan noted that participation on the team is something students choose to do during their free time.

“Knowledge Bowl is open to sixth- through eighth-grade students,” explained Logan. “We practice throughout the school year using basic knowledge trivia type questions. The fun part is, we don’t know what the questions will be at the contest.”

To practice, Logan said the school has a “buzz in” system like the game show Jeopardy. Students practice once a week during their flex time. She said the system the students are using is about 30 years old and is being replaced for the upcoming school year, using grant money secured for that purpose.

“I’m looking forward to having the new system,” said Logan, who has sponsored the program for 12 years.

Logan said the middle school level program prepares students to compete in the Wyoming Academic Challenge at the high school level.  She noted that many students go on to compete at the high school level.

The contest includes one written test, followed by four “live” oral rounds. Points from the written and oral rounds are combined to determine the winners. The students compete against students from other schools in a “rapid fire” quiz session.

“Each kid has his own forte,” Logan explained. “Some are good in math, some in science or other subjects.”

Only two eighth graders can participate in the contest. The rest of the competitors are from lower grades. Logan said up to 20 students participate in the practice session, but only the top eight students are selected to participate based on practice test scores and participation during practice sessions.

“The activity is open to all students and anyone is welcome to participate,” said Logan. “It’s good preparation for general knowledge tests like the ACT, WYTOP and other knowledge based tests. It’s also a lot of fun and the kids love to compete against one another.”

Next year’s competition will be held in Cody. Lovell Middle School is slated to host the event in 2026.