National Championships Coming Up this Sunday!

April 24, 2012 – The Regionals are completely finished, the Nationals registration deadline has passed, so now all that remains is to study, study, and study in advance of the 2012 National History Bee National Championships! On this coming Sunday, April 29, The 2012 National Championships of The National History Bee will be contested at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA and at Mount Vernon in the afternoon. Roughly 160 Varsity and 140 JV students are signed up to compete – the top 20 Varsity and top 10 JV students will get the chance to compete at Mount Vernon in the final rounds. More information will be relayed to participating moderators, students and schools this week regarding format, rules, and times of matches, but we recommend that all participants assemble between 7:10 and 7:25 in the Grand Ballroom. From 7:30-7:45, a brief introductory meeting will be held, with matches expected to begin at 8:05. Round 1 will be at 8:05, Round 2 will be at 8:48, Round 3 will be at 9:31, Round 4 will be at 10:14, Round 5 will be at 10:57 and Round 6 will be at 11:40. From 12:00-12:20, scores will be tallied, from 12:30 – 12:35, tiebreakers will be broken, and at 12:45, buses will leave for Mount Vernon. Teams are suggested to get lunch at 12:00-12:30, and teams will also need to be checked out of rooms before Round 1 begins. Students are required to check in in advance; this may be done on Friday during Bowl check in, on Saturday at any time, or on Sunday until 7:30am. Please, however, do this as soon as you can (avoid Sunday check in if you can at all manage it). For those who are interested, a Consolation Bee will also be held on Sunday, though this will only consist of the middle four rounds, and will run on a slightly different timeframe. More information on the Consolation Bee will go out this week too; signups for the Consolation Bee will be available on Friday, April 27. The cost will be $40. The Consolation Bee is open to anyone who did not qualify for the National Championships; it is not open to those who qualified but chose not to compete in the National Championships. For more information on Nationals, please email greg at historybowl dot com. See you there and good luck!

Regionals Nearly Complete – National Championships Are Approaching!

Isabella Contolini made history on March 10 as the first US 8th grader to win a High School Varsity Bee at the Colorado History Bee.

With 60 regional qualifying tournaments now complete, The National History Bee is beginning to gear up for its second annual National Championships in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia on the weekend of April 27-29, 2012! We’ve had a tremendous second year, which has seen more than double the number of students compete around the world, from Guam to Miami, Idaho to Rome, New Hampshire to Shanghai, and everywhere in between. We’re expecting between 300-400 students to compete at our National Championships in both the Varsity and Junior Varsity divisions; if you’ve qualified, we hope you’ll be able to join us! Details on all aspects of Nationals, including registration, and a list of registered teams can be found on the tabs to the left. Don’t overlook the events on Friday evening – we’re inaugurating the National Sports History Bee and National Entertainment History Bee – which are even open to teachers, coaches, and parents! For any questions pertaining to our National Championships, please email NHBB Executive Director, David Madden at director@historybowl.com. See you there! A list of tournament winners is maintained under “State Bee Results” – congratulations to all champions and Nationals qualifiers! Special mentions go out to the following students: 1. Sam from the American School of Paris and Isabella Contolini of Jefferson County Virtual Academy (CO) made history as 8th graders who have won high school Varsity Bees this year! 2. Alex Frey of St. Joseph’s of Metuchen (NJ) who as of March 25 has been the only student at any of our tournaments this year to score a perfect 39 in the prelim rounds! This took place at the NJ State Championships, where Alex defended his state title for the second year in a row. 3. Cole Press of Ransom Everglades (FL – Varsity), Skyler Cantrell of Menifee County (KY – JV), Sathya Ramesh of Rancho Bernardo (CA – JV), and last year’s National Champion, Mark Arildsen of University School of Nashville (TN – Varsity) for being the only winners of two separate History Bees this year.

Partnership with The National History Club

January 24, 2012 – The National History Bee and Bowl is pleased to announce an outreach partnership with The National History Club. If you’ve enjoyed playing at NHBB tournaments, why don’t you take the next step and transform your team members into the newest National History Club chapter! You’ll become a part of a fast growing movement that like NHBB is seeking to help promote history education throughout the USA. According to Bob Nasson, National History Club, Executive Director: “The National History Club Inc. (NHC) inspires students and teachers to start history club chapters at high schools, middle schools, and within other student and community programs. Members of local history club chapters participate in local and national programs, and create their own projects and activities. The NHC also provides chapters with resources and services that will help them increase the activity and impact of their history club. To date, the NHC has founded history club chapters at high schools and middle schools in 43 states, and there are over 12,000 student members. To find our more information on how to form a history club and join the NHC please visit: www.nationalhistoryclub.org

Happy New Year! The Heart of NHBB Tournament Season Is Here!

Skyler Cantrell of Menifee County High School, won the Eastern Kentucky JV History Bee held at Johnson Central High School on December 3, 2011.

January 1, 2012 – With the new year upon us, the next three months will see the vast majority of this school year’s Regional and State High School History Bees take place. Nearly 60 sites are scheduled across the USA, and eight tournaments are planned for overseas – six in Europe and two in Asia! Check out www.nhbbeurope.com and www.nhbbasia.comfor more information. Our tournaments have been going great so far this year. Ten tournaments have been held, including our inaugural tournaments in Hawaii and Guam! NHBB Executive Director David Madden directed our inaugural Pacific island tournaments in December – look for Ken-Ben Chao and Kenneth Lee, the Hawaii Varsity and JV History Bee Champions, from ‘Iolani School in Honolulu at our National Championships in April! Stats are now up for all tournaments held so far – check out our list of champions, and peruse the scores under “State Bee Results” on your left. Finally, we’d also like to extend a welcome to Nick Clusserath who has just been promoted to Assistant Executive Director and assumed full-time status. That brings our full-time staff to 4 – and we expect to add to that number in the future to allow us to continue to grow. Nick will especially be focusing on helping our Middle School Competition grow – 33 Regional Bees will be held between Jan. 13 and March 16, with the winners getting a trip to DC to appear on HISTORY in our National Championships! Thanks for your support of NHBB and good luck to all teams competing over the next few months!

Congratulations to Mark Arildsen of University School of Nashville (TN) and Sameer Rai of Bellarmine College Preparatory of San Jose (CA), your inaugural year 2011 Varsity and JV National History Bee Champions!

The National History Bee is gearing up for a big expansion in our second year!

The National History Bee is pleased to announce that we are planning on adding up to 50+ NEW sites around the country, and even the world, so that thousands more students have a chance to compete. Tournaments will begin in October 2011, and continue through late March 2012. Those finishing in the top third of their division at any tournament qualify for our National Championships next Sunday, April 29 in Arlington, VA and Mount Vernon. And with three separate question sets in use, you can have up to three chances to qualify. Good luck to all, and check back here for all the latest!

New Sponsor, New Feature, New Nationals Info

(March 19) The National History Bee and Bowl is pleased to welcome Zeecraft as its newest sponsor. Zeecraft has for years been the premier manufacturer of buzzer systems and a steadfast supporter of the academic competition community and we are delighted to be partnering with them. Zeecraft will be providing assistance at various state tournaments for the remainder of the season and will be the official provider of buzzer systems and scoreboards at the National Championships of the National History Bee and Bowl in Washington on April 16 and 17. For more information and to see Zeecraft’s line of products, visit www.zeecraft.com.
We also have a few new features on our website that will be of interest to many of you. Under “State Bee Results” a list of all our State Bee champions (Varsity and JV) has now been posted next to the links for full results. You can also view a sample Nationals packet under “Sample Questions.” Updated hotel and game site information is now posted at the top of the “Nationals Information” page too. More Nationals updates will be forthcoming when available.

Bee Season in High Gear – 18 New Champions Crowned Over the Last 3 Saturdays!

Congratulations to a slew of National History Bee State Champions over the last three weeks. Any recounting of the new champions has to start with Brad Cantrell of Johnson Central in KY and JR Roach of Maggie Walker in VA who became the 2nd and 3rd students nationwide with perfect prelim scores of 39. Our other new Varsity champions include Cole Press of South Florida powerhouse Ransom Everglades, Noah Rubin of Guilderland High School in the Upper Hudson Valley Region of NY, Austin Wilder who prevailed over a very tight MN field, Ross Terry of Starr’s Mill in Georgia, Peter DeBlasi of North Babylon on Long Island, Andrew van Duyn of Culver Academies in Indiana, and Dylan Randolph of Fulton High School in Central Missouri. Our new JV champions are Daniel Lopez, also of Ransom Everglades in Florida, Jack O’Brien of Queensbury in Upstate New York, rising star Arthur Ramsey of Half Hollow Hills West on Long Island, Chris Miller of Woodgrove – who prevented a Maggie Walker sweep of the 4 titles on offer at the VA History Bee and Bowl, James Wang of Eden Prairie in MN, Alec Jones of Apalachee High School in Georgia, and Bess Goodfellow of Rock Bridge in Missouri. Special mention goes out to Indiana History Bee champion, Mason Hill, of the Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky, who after driving six hours to compete dominated the JV field, and due to the format being used in Indiana, came within one question of winning the Varsity competition too. Congratulations to all of you, and everyone else who turned in fine performances over the last three weeks! We look forward to seeing you battle in out on April 17 in Washington, DC and Mount Vernon for the National Championships!

The National History Bee and Bowl Is Pleased to Welcome Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as a New Sponsor!

(March 2) The National History Bee and Bowl is pleased to announce a new sponsorship arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of America’s leading publishing firms. For the remainder of the 2010-2011 competition season, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will be offering NexText historical fiction readers to all Varsity and Junior Varsity State Bee Champions, while participating students on teams that qualify for the playoffs at the National Championships for both the National History Bee and the National History Bowl will receive a special gift courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The National History Bee and Bowl and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt look forward to working together to promote history education throughout the United States for years to come.

History Made in West Virginia – Nick Brumfield “39s” the Bee! History Made in Texas – Sophomore Mickey Gioia wins Varsity History Bee! History Made in Ohio – 8th grader Sam Blizzard wins JV! Bellarmine dominates California: Phil Yakushev and Sameer Rai win Varsity and JV. Brandon Williams wins Ohio History Bee in the Varsity, Carlos Molina takes Texas JV, Alex McDonald wins WV JV.

Texas History Bee Champion Mickey Gioia of Shepton and Runner Up Kevin Wei of Plano Senior.

(Feb. 26) Our apologies for an overdue response to an historic feat in West Virginia: Nick Brumfield of Parkersburg became the first student ever with a perfect score of 39 in the preliminary rounds of the Bee en route to a dominating victory whereby he established himself as a National favorite. Alex McDonald of Charleston Catholic captured the JV title in West Virginia, thus preventing a Parkersburg sweep of the Bee and Bowl. Then, over the last two weeks, three exciting state History Bees – in California and Ohio on Feb. 12 and Texas on Feb. 19 – were held with scores of students taking part and having a great time. Among the myriad excellent performances, two are of special note. In Texas, sophomore Mickey Gioia of Shepton High School could have opted to compete in the Junior Varsity division. But in the end, it was the other Varsity players who wished that he had, as Mickey impressively dominated the playoff portion of the Bee to become the first ever sophomore to win a Varsity level History Bee! Similarly, in Ohio, Sam Blizzard of Northmont took full advantage of our new rule allowing middle school students to compete by dominating every aspect of the Junior Varsity Bee, including a 5-0 victory in the final playoff round. Might Sam try to become the first player ever to win a Varsity Bee as a freshman next year? More immediately, we hope that Sam, Mickey, and all the students who qualified, especially Ohio Varsity Champion Brandon Williams, also of Northmont (our Bowl winner in Ohio as well), Texas JV Champion Carlos Molina of Jasper, and the impressive Bellarmine duo of Phil Yakushev and Sameer Rai will be able to join us in Washington in April at our National Finals. Congratulations all around!

Aojia Zhao, Mike DeAngelo, and Joe Brosch win Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Delaware History Bees! Reid Black, Greg Cajka, and Joe Kiernan win Junior Varsity Divisions in MO, PA, and DE as well.

(January 18) The National History Bee tournament season is moving into high gear with three state history bees being held over the past two weekends. At the Missouri History Bee for the St. Louis region, Aojia Zhao of Ladue Horton Watkins won in a large field of over 50 students while Logan Hayward of St. Louis Univ. High, the runner-up, posted a very impressive preliminary score of 38, just 1 point away from perfection. Reid Black won the JV Division in St. Louis over his teammate from Lutheran HS, Seth Coffin, in the final. At the Northern Pennsylvania History Bee, Michael DeAngelo of Wyoming Area had a perfect day; winning the Bee, the Bowl, and being named Bowl MVP. However, Vladi Stack of Wallenpaupack gave DeAngelo a great final match that had the entire tournament audience on the edge of its seats. Greg Cajka won the JV Division by finishing third among all finishers. Watch out for him and JV runner up Tyler Masker of Delaware Valley next year, who also made the Varsity Final. In Delaware, Joe Brosch triumphed over a very competititve field including his teammate from Wilmington Charter Kevin Xia in the final match, and like DeAngelo, led his team to victory in the Bowl as well. Joe Kiernan of Moorestown Friends represented New Jersey by winning the Delaware History Bee’s JV division, defeating Ravi Suba of Wilmington Charter in the final JV match. Congratulations to all students, and if you made the finals OR if you finished in the top third of your division, we hope to see you at the National Championships in Washington, DC on April 17! Registration opens here on February 1.
Shown here left to right are Northern Pennsylvania History Bee Champion Michael DeAngelo of Wyoming Area Secondary Center; National History Bee founder, and N. PA History Bee Tournament Director, David Madden; and Vladi Stack, Runner-Up at the N. PA Bee from Wallenpaupack High School.

Ryan Rosenberg of Ardsley High School Wins First Ever State History Bee! Jordan Stein of Horace Greeley High School is JV Bee Champion.

(November 29) In the first ever National History Bee tournament, Ryan Rosenberg of Ardsley High School prevailed over a strong field, winning 5-4 in the final portion over Rishab Guha of Horace Greeley High School. Rishab had closed a 4-1 gap to 4-4, but then Ryan was able to get to 5 questions correct first, thus winning the New York State History Bee for the Lower Hudson Valley Region. In the Junior Varsity Division, Jordan Stein won a 5-0 final over Alec Vulfson of Irvington. Jordan and Alec were clearly the strongest 9th and 10th grade students in the field, both amassing 24 points in the preliminaries. Though the format was brand new, the Bee ran very smoothly and students who competed had a great time. We hope to see all who qualified come to the National Championships in Washington DC next April 17!

3 New Advisory Board Members Named

(August 7) The National History Bee and Bowl is proud to welcome three new members of its Board of Advisors. Rohit Prakash is a former high school quiz bowl standout and college history instructor who is currently working on a PhD in economics at Cambridge and working for the Royal Bank of Scotland. He will be advising on matters of question development and strategic planning. Retired US Air Force Colonel and Commander of Nellis AFB Dave Belote will be advising the NHBB on matters relating to military history, including helping to develop a partnership for question development with the USAF’s Office of the Historian. Bob Harris is a television and travel writer and an author of four books, including Prisoner of Trebekistan, who will be advising on matters of creative content and media relations. Look for all three new Advisory Board members at various tournaments (you’ll find Bob on the West Coast, Dave on the East Coast, and Rohit in Paris) and it should also be mentioned that Bob and Dave are former 5 time standout champions on Jeopardy!