PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle High School will face Marshwood High School of South Berwick Thursday, Feb. 8, as Maine Public begins the second season of “High School Quiz Show Maine.”
The program will air on Maine Public Television at 8 p.m. and again on Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
Veteran producer Nick Woodward spearheads the program, which pits teams of four students from Maine high schools in a single-elimination bracket competition. Maine journalist Shannon Moss hosts.
“It’s exciting,” PIHS Principal Ben Greenlaw said Tuesday. “Carson Dobrin, science teacher here, gathered a handful of students back in September; they answered some questions [in a test] and qualified to participate. We’re one of 16 high schools throughout the state, and the only one north of Bangor.”
Last year was the program’s first year, Greenlaw said, and although a group of students attempted to qualify they didn’t make the final taping.
On Thursday evening, PIHS juniors Rebecca Collins and Owen McQuarrie, seniors Dustin Alward and Austin Moreau, and alternate Madelyn Wing, also a senior, will face the team from Marshwood — the school who won last year’s competition.
“Anytime we have a chance to show off how intelligent our kids are and how respectful they are, and just the quality human beings they are, is exciting for us. We know we’ve got great kids here at Presque Isle High School, and we want the state to know what great kids we have.”
Airing through May, the program also will feature St. Dominic, Oak Hill, Falmouth, Morse, Portland, Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, Bangor, Old Orchard Beach, Berwick Academy, Oceanside, Scarborough, Wells and John Bapst high schools.
The winning team receives a $1,000 gift to their school’s Project Graduation; the runner-up receives a $500 gift. To earn a place in the tournament, each team competed in an earlier selection round consisting of a proctored take-home test.
The statewide winner earns the chance to participate in a regional tournament, facing quiz show champions from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island later in the spring.
According to Maine Public, questions used in each contest align with the Maine high school curriculum standards for literature, history, science and math, along with current events and general knowledge. Each episode also will feature a “celebrity” video question, posed by Maine civic leaders including legislators and Gov. Paul LePage.
