Video: IAHS Scholar’s Bowl Team Shares Their Story Of Success

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FULTON, Miss. (WCBI) – The school year is winding down but some student scholars are still hitting the books.

The Itawamba Agriculture High School Scholar’s Bowl Team is having a big year.

And they’re studying as much as they can before leaving for a national competition.

“Very successful and worth all the hard work and sacrifices,” said Junior team member Victoria Sheffield.

“It’s been a great, fantastic year. Beyond anybody’s expectations,” said team captain Ben Stanley.

That’s how members of IAHS’ Scholar’s Bowl Team describe their year.

It’s been so successful, the group has brought home trophies from all 9 of their competitions this year.

“Being able to say we’ve gotten a trophy at every tournament we’ve been to is something I never dreamed we would ever accomplish,” said Stanley.

“And some of those we’ve gotten 2 trophies. We’ve placed 1st-2nd or 2nd-3rd or something along those lines,” said team coach Chris Johnson.

In April, the team placed 7th in the Small Schools National Competition, as they competed with 60 other schools from across the country.

The students were the only team from Mississippi at the Atlanta competition.

Johnson has coached the team for 13 years and says he doesn’t know of another team that has accomplished so much.

“They’ve been able to learn, make friends, find ways to use that in an avenue and compete not only locally where they’ve thrived very well but also regionally where we found out we can thrive well. And this year, Nationally where we’re a top 10 team in the nation,” said Johnson.

But the success doesn’t stop there. In two weeks, the team heads to Chicago to compete against hundreds of others from across the globe at the National High School Competition.

Last year, they also made it to nationals where they placed 186th out of 272 teams.

But this time, students hope their experience puts them ahead of the game.

“Now that we have been there and we’ll know what to do, we will know how the competition is ran, how difficult the questions are, the caliber of the teams,” said senior team member Cole Holland.

And no matter if the team gets the answer right, they hope to shine a light on education.

“It’s good to represent your state so well because Mississippi doesn’t have a very good reputation for education,” said Sheffield.
The Scholar’s Bowl Team will be the only Mississippi team to compete in Nationals this month.

The team welcomes any support for their trip, as they are required to raise all funds to compete.

For information on how to donate,  call IAHS at 662-862-3104