Students compete at Brain Bowl

Middle school competitors from Kaiserslautern district schools went head to head recently in the annual Brain Bowl Tournament in the Heaton Auditorium at Landstuhl Hospital.

Eleven teams representing six district schools answered questions on a variety of academic questions. Landstuhl took first and third place and Spangdahlem Middle School finished second out of eleven teams.

Brain Bowl teams consist of four players. The moderator, Jerry Oyan, a counselor and Brain Bowl coach at Kaiserslautern High School, read a question and the first team to buzz in got the first attempt at answering the question correctly within 10 seconds. If they missed, the opposing team was allowed to discuss the question and offer an answer. The team that had the most points at the end of each round was the winner. The competition was double elimination so each team had two chances to advance to the next round.

The purpose of the Brain Bowl was to recognize outstanding student academic achievement, to focus community interest on academics and to foster relations among faculty and students as they work together on this joint project.
The Kaiserslautern district has sponsored the tournament at the middle school level for more than 20 years.

Students competing in the middle school competition often go on to participate in the all European Department of Defense Dependents Schools high school two day tournament.

From this competition, students gain confidence, receive recognition and are motivated to continue studying and learning.
(Article by Elaine Edwards)