During the week of Valentine’s Day 2018, love was spreading throughout the Burroughs Community. Love for trivia facts, that is. The newly founded Trivia and Quiz Bowl Club was advertising for its schoolwide trivia night fundraiser to cover Spring Quiz Bowl tournament fees.

Founder Nathan Peng ‘19 said the club started as a “fun idea.” He enjoyed actively participating in his old school’s trivia club and thought there would be widespread interest in both trivia and the interscholastic Quiz Bowl competition at Burroughs. Peng says the official mission of the club is to “educate the student body on facts that they may not have known before and to provide a competitive interest in Quiz Bowl.” As for the first part of this goal, the Fact of the Day brought (sometimes nervous) laughter, insights, and joy to assembly. What started as a way to “hype people up for the Trivia Night” became the Snapple cap of students’ mornings. Through the Trivia Club’s Fact of the Day, students were informed of Australia’s defeat in a war it launched against its emu population, a traditional dish from Dongyang, Zhejiang, China called “virgin boy eggs,” and that if you want to decrease the number of single people in the United States (124.6 million) by two, you can contact Rohan Kumaran ‘21.

Peng and Sriya Bandi ‘20 hosted the club’s Trivia Night on Friday, February 17th. For an inaugural event, Peng noted that while people enjoyed themselves, “we were pretty disorganized.” However, Peng and the Trivia Club plan to be more prepared in the years to come by “setting management roles and making better questions.” Six teams in total participated in the Trivia Night, and the winner was a team of seniors consisting of Alison Gill ‘18, Claire Hoffman ‘18, Nick Kime ‘18, Victoria Sansone ‘18, and Kaitlyn Wallace ‘18.

Hoffman states, “If you’ve ever wondered how to use your knowledge of Jane Austen’s Emma, ancient cities in Iran, and JBS alumni, Trivia Night is for you.” Of the night, Kime jokes, “It was like a battle, nay, a war, fought with ferocity and aggression. We showed no mercy; we screamed, clawed, shoved our way to the top, and we emerged through the filth victorious.”

As for the interscholastic Quiz Bowl competition aspect of the club, the team’s first competition is on April 7 at Ladue High School. Peng believes that the team will be amply prepared, given the team’s weekly prep sessions before school. The team is comprised (thus far) of Peng, Will DePlanty ‘21, and Rahul Jasti ‘21 and is sponsored by Mr. Knight and Mr. Bang. There are still open spots on the team, and anyone interested should contact Peng. Peng says their hope is to “learn a lot and achieve success and prominence in our inaugural year.”

The club officiation process was a long one for the Trivia Club, going through multiple meetings with Student Congress and changes in club leadership. Peng would like to thank his co-founders Matthew Yee ‘19 and Evan Williams ‘18, and all the people who went to the Trivia Night and Trivia Club meetings for supporting the club.

The Trivia and Quiz Bowl Club has stirred up attention across the Burroughs community. Many students, including Mara Sudekum ‘18, await the return of daily Trivia Facts. Sudekum says, “[The facts] were funny, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.” Hopefully, through the club’s performance at the Quizbowl and the rebirth of Fact of the Day, JBS students and teachers can foster a long-term love of trivia facts.