Charger Challenge supports AGHS quiz bowl team

LITTLEFIELD — A fundraiser tested the brainpower of Ayden-Grifton High Schools supporters recently as four teams competed in the Charger Challenge Quiz Bowl.

The annual event in support of the high school's quiz bowl team gathered four four-person teams on Jan. 27 in the school's auditorium for a tournament organized by science teacher and quiz bowl coach Will Tyer to help supplement the team's travel budget.

Participants included South Lenoir quiz bowl coach Ryan Gardner and Parrott Academy quiz bowl coach Laura Thompson, who were paired up with AGHS alumni to form a team, the Ayden Rotary Club, the Ayden-Grifton Kiwanis Club and a team made up or members of Ayden's McLawhorn family, who walked away with the win.

Nick McLawhorn said that he, his brother, and his sister all competed in quiz bowl when they were in high school, and that they come to this competition every year to support the current team and to have some fun.

Tyer said that he coached two of the McLawhorns and that they’ve been longtime supporters of the quiz bowl team. It is the McLawhorn's second time winning this tournament, said Tyers, who moderated the competition.

“Today's quiz bowl was library style, we had alternating questions with no buzzers, everybody got a chance to answer a question, and it keeps the scores closer above their competition,” said Tyer. “A lot of times you can get huge runaways, this keeps the scores closer, and it makes it a little bit more fun.”

There were 10-point, 20-point and 30-point questions that got more difficult as the points increased. The 10-point questions were individual questions, and participants deliberated as a team on 20 and 30-point questions from categories such as history, math, science, social studies, fine arts, sports and more.

Everyone who participated appeared to be having a great time, there were quite a few laughs during the competition, and the competitiveness of the participants was fierce.

Donations and entry fees of $20 per team member will support this year's program, Tyer said, which gives students who aren't athletes a way to compete for their school by using their brains.

“Ayden-Grifton has a strong history of winning the local county quiz bowl competition, and it's a way to show off for knowing things, especially if you can’t shoot a basketball,” said Tyer. “In 2023 we won the county championship and the North Carolina Regional championship for library-style quiz bowl."