A room full of chatting, laughing Eagan High School students. Treats are strewn everywhere. The students are divided into groups, facing one another in a round of friendly competition. Questions are read, answers are buzzed in.

What is this little known activity?

​“Quiz Bowl is a fun program where teens come together and answer general knowledge questions and questions from a variety of different academic subjects.” states the EHS Quiz Bowl’s webpage.

​Eagan High School’s Quiz Bowl team meets every Tuesday from 2:30 to 3:15 in Mr. Poehler’s room. A typical practice is just that; a practice. The entire club breaks into small teams of four and practices answering the type of academically-based questions they would see in competition.

​“Then, we form teams and play a practice round against each other. There’s always a lot of shouting and trash talk between teammates.” says Jeffrey Ching, a senior Quiz Bowl captain in his fourth year participating on the team.

​And all this practice has paid off. This year, four members of Eagan High School’s Quiz Bowl Team qualified for the state tournament. J.R. Anderson, Jeffrey Ching, Luke Henry, and Utkarsh Koshti were able to compete in the tournament on February 27th at Burnsville High School.

“To get there, we came in the top 3 of our conference at the end of the season. Once we got there, we were quickly eliminated, but it was cool to go, and we’re going to try to make it a tradition.” says Ching about his state tournament experience.

A big part of the club is the competitive aspect. The competitions purposefully test the knowledge of those who compete.

“You get to test your knowledge against other people that also have lots of knowledge” says Utkarsh Koshti, a junior and member of the state qualifying team.

Although this is Koshti’s favorite part, it’s not for everyone. The Quiz Bowl team is not all about the competition. A lot of the appeal for the members is the club’s community.

“I enjoy hanging out with some friends, and having fun with [the] captain(s).” says Jacob Backman, a senior member of Quiz Bowl.

And of course, the treats. Every week at the club practices there are treats of astonishing variety. It’s what keeps the members coming back for more.

“We try to make sure that there are treats at every meeting. It makes everything a little more fun.” says Ching.

Treats, competition, and friends.

What’s not to love?