Midtown’s Black History Bowl team won the second annual district-wide competition amongst eight teams after months of preparation in March.
Senior Edan Avissar joined the BHB team last year, contributing to the team’s second place finish. Avissar said through his time on the team, he has appreciated learning Black history.
“I heard about Black History Bowl last year in Mr. Erskine’s study hall class,” Avissar said. “I competed last year, just to come up short and get second place. This year, I planned on making a better team so we could get the win. Learning Black history is essential because it provides a more complete and accurate picture of our shared past, highlighting the resilience, creativity and leadership of Black people.”
History teacher Noel Erskine proposed the initial concept of the BHB to district officials last year. He said he was motivated to kickstart the program due to the positive effect he believes it can have on students.
“The way people see themselves influences the way that we act,” Erskine said. “If you know where you come from, you can move forward. Any way that I can facilitate historical learning, I will.”
Avissar said the preparation for the competition was intensive because the team wanted to get in first place.
“The team put in countless hours outside of regular meetings to ensure we were beyond-prepared,” Avissar said. “Failure was not an option. As Mr. Erskine always said, ‘If you’re not first you’re last.’ We were motivated to get first and build a legacy.”
Senior David Baker, who joined the BHB team this year, said he has grown during his time participating.
“Learning Black history opened my eyes to the vast and important inventions, movements and discoveries that these people and groups contributed to, which shaped our country,” Baker said. “The team practiced around two-three times a week, and whenever I had free time I would open the questions and review the content.”
Erskine attributed the team’s success to the notable student energy that was put into the competition.
“The students on the team took incredible initiative,” Erskine said. “They took so much time to come to practice consistently even though they have an eight-class schedule and other extracurriculars. They should be proud of how much energy they put into the competition.”
Baker said the history program at Midtown prepared him for BHB, and he projects a larger future for the program within the state.
“I think [Advanced Placement U.S. History] and AP World [History] taught me about many of the key people and movements in Black history, and this provided a foundation on which I could build up on through studying,” Baker said. “I am hoping that BHB at Midtown continues its excellence in APS, and one day the competition evolves so that the future Midtown students can compete at the state and national levels.”
Junior Justin Brown practiced for 1-2 hours everyday prepping for the competition, and additionally credited the Midtown history classes he has taken to help him prepare.
“The midtown history program contributed heavily to my success because they have taught me a lot of things about history,” Brown said. “I joined the black history bowl team because I love history and I felt that with black history there is a cultural importance. I hope in the future that the BHB goes to a state and national level because I felt as if it deserved that with the amount of importance, competition, fun and academic longevity that was put into the BHB.”
Avissar said he also hopes for a larger future for BHB that can help many high school students.
“I hope Black History Bowl continues to grow and thrive at Midtown, inspiring more students to engage with and celebrate Black history,” Avissar said. “If I could re-class to compete again, I would.”
