Move over Jeopardy! The Yeshivah of Flatbush High School College Bowl Team met the TV Challenge recently. More specifically, it was the Cablevision/News12 Challenge, an academic TV quiz show for high schools in the tri-state region featuring the best and brightest local students. The Challenge tests knowledge of history, arts and literature, science and math, popular culture and current events.
This season was the first to include teams from Brooklyn, and four of Flatbush’s finest stepped-up to the academic plate to challenge the opposition from Brooklyn’s Secondary School for Law. Wearing suits, ties and face powder—to make them ‘camera ready’—and geared with buzzers and microphones, YOF seniors Norman Greenberg, Benjy Leinwand, Eddie Mishaan and Dovie Rosenberg took to the studio stage with an air of confidence. Alternate Hillel Landman stood ready to step in if needed.
Supporting them in the studio audience was an enthusiastic YOF cheering squad including the dozen other College Bowl team members, faculty advisor Dr. Joanne F. Bernstein (Professor Emerita of Education at Brooklyn College and Coordinator of the Yeshivah Academic Bowl League), Principal Rabbi Ronald Levy and family and friends.
After a cordial meeting with the opposition and a game regulations review in the “green room” (which is not green), the teams were ready to begin. But an equipment failure delayed the start, and led the stage crew to improvise an audience trivia challenge; tee shirts, bags and caps were awarded (tossed) to the audience for answering some difficult and some silly questions such as “What is the name of Captain Crunch’s ship?” (S.S. Guppy).
Finally the meet began and it was exciting. The results are not yet publicly known, but you can watch the match yourself. It will air on channel 12 on the weekends of February 2 and February 16—at 6:30 and 9:30 pm, on both Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Besides the fun and the pride of academic accomplishment, The Challenge offers some monetary prizes too. After 31 weeks, one team in each region is crowned Regional Champion, winning $2,500 for its school. Regional winners confront each other in a Tri-state showdown, vying for a prize of $10,000 for their school. Each student (including alternates) participating in the final Tri-State Challenge Championship game will receive $500.
You can catch The Challenge every weekend through the end of June 2008 on Sunday nights. For further information, visit www.powertolearn.com. And for more photos of the YOF College Bowl TV experience, visit the Joel Braverman High School photo gallery at www.flatbush.org.
________________
Renee Beyda is a YOF parent and the Yeshivah’s publications assistant. Diane Chabbott is the YOF publicist.
