MacDuffie Competes in As Schools Match Wits for the 35th time
The As School Match Wits Team, including Senior Avery Anderson, Junior Alison Jackson, Junior Megan Jacques, and Senior Kirill Lazarev pose for a picture with the host and Ted Lyman after the filming of their match against Lee High School. Photo provided by Alison Jackson
April 25, 2019
The MacDuffie School participated in the As Schools Match Wits competition on November 17, 2018 for the 35th time in the history of the school. It is a television program that involves about 50 schools from around Massachusetts competing in answering trivia questions.
Students from various schools are brought together at a studio in Westfield College where the show is filmed, according to As Schools Match Wits Advisor Ted Lyman. The matches take place at the studio during weekends in November and December. After a trivia question is asked, the school that hits the buzzer the fastest and answers the question correctly gains a certain number of points.
MacDuffie recently earned the highest score they’ve had in several years, with a score of 170 points.
“After the last match is broadcast in May, the top eight schools will be announced,” Lyman said.
“The general topic [of the questions asked] is everything from sports, to weather, to science, to literature, to everything,” Senior Kirill Lazarev said. He added that winning does not only depends on the question but “also the team that you are playing against.”
For a team to be successful during the matches, students should have information regarding a wide variety of topics and they should be able to react quickly, according to Lyman.