The Butler Senior High School KDKA Hometown High Q trivia team recently won four rounds of the challenging competition, besting 80 other teams to bring home the championship to Butler Area School District.
Comprised of senior Charles Simms, juniors Maxwell Channells and David Krainbucher and alternate junior Ava Brewster, the team achieved their final win in May to finish out a successful season of competition. The finals, hosted by meteorologist Ray Petelin, aired on KDKA on June 24.
For their efforts, the team took home $4,000 in prize money provided by sponsor GBU Life, as well as a chance to tour the KDKA studios in Downtown.
Simms, who will be attending Duquesne University in the fall, had competed in the event before, but on that run his team was eliminated in the first round.
“I worked hard to improve my knowledge and came back to High Q this year with a vengeance,” said the team captain.
To assemble the team, students in the school’s gifted program were asked by gifted coordinator and team coach Stephanie Peters to take a short survey to gauge their interest.
“After that, those [competed] in mini, in-school trivia competitions to determine who makes the team,” said Peters.
The four students and their coach grew close during the year they worked together, which they said helped get them to their goal of winning it all.
“We all worked off each other to pool our thoughts and make sure we had the right answer before we blurted out something incorrect,” said Channells.
The team members had the same favorite memory of the competition: achieving a perfect score in round two.
“You can see how happy we are on camera when we’re told we have a perfect score,” Channells said.
“The immense feeling of relief and joy is truly like nothing else,” added Krainbucher.
But the team said they wouldn’t have gotten as far without their coach.
“Ms. Peters always believed in us and supported us unconditionally,” said Simms.
“When we were unsure if we would make it past the first round, when we lacked the confidence needed in a competition like this, she has been there to help each and every person on this team.”
The coach praised her team.
“These young men are awesome,” said Peters. “They love to learn [and] are all smart, kind and fun to work with. Together they make up one ginormous encyclopedia of everything. I am so proud to be their coach.”
In a final meeting of the minds, the team came together one last time to determine the most difficult question of the competition: Who was the author of the book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”?
“None of us we able to come up with the answer as we gazed at each other in confusion,” said Simms. “We now know the answer is Dee Brown.”
That answer, along with the friendships and the memories made throughout the year, will stick with the students for the rest of their lives.
“I know I have made great friends in my teammates David and Max, and that we’ll be forever linked as a part of Butler history,” Simms said.
First Published: June 25, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
