When Weehawken High School’s “A” List Academic Team competed in the televised Madison Square Garden (MSG) Varsity Challenge in New York City on Oct. 26, they may have lost the competition, but they didn’t lose their pride.
Supervisor Al Cevoli, who has led the team for 13 years, said it was a scene right out of the film “Rocky.” He said, “[Paramus Catholic] won, but we were definitely the spirit winners.”
The “Varsity Challenge” is a quiz show on the MSG cable station. Teams of students answer questions about current events, math, science, history, the arts, and literature.
This time around, MSG Varsity selected 192 high schools at random to compete on the show, aired on Cablevision’s Channel 14 on Nov. 8. Weehawken’s team was the only one chosen from Hudson County.
Weehawken High School has itself hosted an all-county Academic Bowl many times.
“It’s a nice thing for us because many kids with similar interests and abilities are joined together in the same place,” High School Principal Dr. Peter Oliveri said.
“We were definitely the spirit winners.” –Al Cevoli
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For the MSG Varsity Challenge, five students (four competitors and one alternate) were selected based on their specific areas of knowledge and, more importantly, their stage presence.
“For us to select a team wasn’t easy,” Cevoli said. “We had to make sure that they were going to be comfortable in front of the camera.”
Meet the “A” Team
For the team, sophomore Mary Callahan specialized in literature (and wit to boot); senior Will Lenchus was chosen for his math and science knowledge; sophomore Pearl Lee brought her math and all-around knowledge to the table (“she’s just a gem academically,” said six-year Assistant Supervisor Jon Hammer); and in addition to his academic prowess, sophomore Jack Skuller happens to be a professional rock singer. Charles Eid, who is the youngest member of the team at 14, served as an alternate for his political and historical expertise.
All of the members (except for Will) also belong to Kid Witness News, and so have some degree of television experience.
Once they found out they had been selected to compete in the MSG Varsity challenge back in September, they had to start preparing early. They only had six weeks.
Known affectionately by the kids as “Keeper of the Buzzer,” Hammer even bought a brand new call-in system — like those on most professional game shows — in order to get used to the one MSG uses. According to Mary, the MSG buzzer was much more complicated. It had five different buttons, and “if you press the wrong one, you get locked out.”
The trek
The supervisors and students began their journey into the city at “dark-thirty in the morning,” said Will. Once they got to the MSG Varsity headquarters, they were stuffed into the Green Room right along with their competitors from Paramus Catholic, who had competed in the challenge the year before.
“It was awkward at first, but then we started talking to each other, and it got easier,” Jack said. “They’d been here last year and were much calmer than we were.”
For example, despite his usually cool and confident self-presentation, Will (who is the captain of the team) was so nervous, he forgot his own name.
“No, literally. I’m not embellishing,” he said. “They came up to me and I forgot my last name.” He also forgot who his parents were, as the competitors were asked to name them in their introductions.
But it all came together after the team nailed the rehearsal question and their spirits were lifted.
They were asked to name the only Portuguese-speaking county in Africa, and they correctly answered Mozambique.
The host of the competition was American Idol semifinalist Jared Cotter, who also put the team at ease with his inability to pronounce certain words in the quiz questions.
“It looked like he was talking to himself,” Mary said, because he wore an earpiece and had to keep checking with the crew for instructions.
Charles’ alternate skills were not needed that day, so he sat in the audience. He too was amused by Cotter’s consistent blunders. “[Cotter] was like, ‘Sorry guys, we gotta redo that, but keep the enthusiasm!’ ” Charles said.
Charles was thrilled by the spirit of the Weehawken students who accompanied the team for support.
“We totally crushed the other guys in terms of audience members,” he said.
The 37 supporting students wore t-shirts, cheered “very loudly,” and waved homemade signs.
“Even though we lost, the way the students pulled together was a great way to set the stage for next year,” Cevoli said.
Preparing for this year’s Academic Bowl
As in past years, Weehawken High School is set to hold an all-county Academic Bowl in February. The “A” Team will join the rest of the school’s Academic Team to prepare.
The Bowl lasts for five weeks, and competitions are held each Wednesday. There will be three preliminary rounds, one semifinal round, and one final round. The winners of the final round will earn the chance to compete in the nationwide tournament in D.C. that is sponsored by Questions Unlimited — the company that provides the questions for the bowl.
The teams must get to the tournament on their own funding, which is where the Principals’ Association and Assistant Advisor Hammer and his student-named “Snacks Unlimited” fundraising skills come into play.
“I’ve been to other places that host the bowl, and everyone is happier with us because we have the best snacks,” Cevoli said.
“That’s the real reason they keep coming back,” Hammer chided.
The team hopes to make it to D.C. this year.