Clarke Central High School social studies department teacher and Academic Team coach Drew Wheeler sits in Room 272 on March 3. During the 2024-25 fall semester, Wheeler prepared the team for competitions by holding practices in his room on Monday afternoons. “(The competitions cover) everything. There (are) math components, and (the team) can do calculations for those. There are (also) several music questions and movie questions,” Wheeler said. Photo by Adah Hamman
The CCHS Academic Team will compete in a state-wide competition at Northgate High School on March 15.
Members of the Clarke Central High School Academic Team, including seniors Adrian Rangel, Britt Bernstein, Davis Carmack and Philip Larue as well as sophomores Andréas Dillies and Justin Lee will travel to Northgate High School on March 15 to participate in a state-wide competition. There, they will answer trivia questions over academic subjects as well as in pop culture and current events.
The team is split into two groups: varsity and junior varsity, with the latter placing first in the regional competition on Feb. 3 at Morgan County High School against Madison County High School. CCHS Academic Team sponsor and social studies department teacher Drew Wheeler prepared the team for the event in several ways.
“(Members are) asked some questions, and they practice (answering) them. I have some old questions from years past because (the competitions) can cover anything,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes, we’ll break out the buzzers earlier in the season to practice and get used to those.”
““It’s really hard to be able to learn something quick enough that you can pull it up in that sort of quick, high-pressure situation,”
— Drew Wheeler,
CCHS Academic Team sponsor and social studies department teacher
Both varsity and JV won all six of their matches before regionals, and varsity placed second at regionals after losing to Oconee County High School. Despite this loss, Wheeler feels they did their best with the resources given.
“It’s really hard to be able to learn something quick enough that you can pull it up in that sort of quick, high-pressure situation,” Wheeler said. “There’s schools that have classes that they do (trivia) in. So, those teams are usually very strong.”
CCHS senior Adrian Rangel, who has been on the varsity division of the Academic Team for three years, felt optimistic going into the regional competition and has high hopes for state.
“We’ve been doing (well) all season, and doing good at regionals has boosted our momentum, (and we’re) taking it with us to do even better at state,” Rangel said.
