January 3, 2011
Eighth grade students will test their knowledge of all things West Virginia and find out who has quick reflexes when they compete in this year’s West Virginia History Bowl.
The West Virginia History Bowl, introduced in 2010 by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, will expand in 2011 to include regional tournaments in all eight West Virginia Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) districts. The winning team and the runner-up team in each RESA will compete in the statewide tournament.
This year’s regional tournaments will take place in February and March. The state tournament will take place April 26 at the Culture Center on the State Capitol Complex in Charleston.
“Our experience with last year’s first History Bowl was tremendous,” said Randall Reid-Smith, Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. “The students were enthusiastic and enjoyed the competition. That encouraged us to look at expanding the tournament so that more students could participate. The response has been overwhelming.”
The West Virginia History Bowl features questions about the state’s history, culture, heritage, tourism and people. Those questions are compiled by the staff of the Archives and History Section of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History with help from the West Virginia Division of Tourism.
“The Archives and History staff will develop a field of more than 1,600 questions for the regional and state tournaments,” Reid-Smith said. “Teams that are preparing for the History Bowl tournaments may use the Archives and History Daily Trivia, Quick Quizzes and Golden Horseshoe study guide as helpful tools from the Division’s website, www.wvculture.org.”
Eighth graders in public, private and home school education programs are eligible to compete on the four-person teams in double-elimination tournament play. This year’s regional tournament winners and the runner-up team will then move forward to the state tournament.
RESA tournament sites, along with the dates for registration and the tournaments are:
RESA 1 – Shady Spring Middle School – Feb. 5, 2011/Registration deadline Jan. 14, 2011
RESA 2 – Wayne Middle School – Feb. 19, 2011/Registration deadline Jan. 28, 2011
RESA 3 – Charleston Catholic Middle School – March 26, 2011/Registration deadline March 5, 2011
RESA 4 – Summersville Middle School – March 19, 2011/Registration deadline Feb. 26, 2011
RESA 5 – Jackson Middle School – Feb. 12, 2011/Registration deadline Jan. 21, 2011
RESA 6 – Sherrard Middle School – March 12, 2011/Registration deadline Feb. 19, 2011
RESA 7 – St. Francis Central Catholic School – Feb. 26, 2011/Registration deadline Feb. 5, 2011
RESA 8 – Moorefield Middle School – March 4, 2011/Registration deadline Feb. 12, 2011
General information about the History Bowl, along with registration forms and information can be found at www.wvculture.org or by contacting Bryan Ward, assistant director of Archives and History for the Division, at 304-558-0230 or Bryan.E.Ward@wv.gov.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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