For a Peninsula High School Knowledge Bowl team that placed 2nd in the state tournament last year, placing 14th this year may seem like a disappointment. To coach and teacher Jonathan Bill however, this isn’t the case. “We may have placed 14th but I think we still had a great year. We didn’t achieve the results that we wanted but I’m still proud of the kids and the effort that they put in.” Many teams don’t even place in the state tournament or even make it into the tournament. Placing 14th is no small feat, and the Seahawks have a lot to be proud of heading into next season.

Peninsula High School offers a wide variety of sports and after school clubs. John Pratt, a Senior at Peninsula, said “Being on the Knowledge Bowl team means a lot to me because I don’t play sports and I still want to compete for Peninsula. It gives me a platform to show my school spirit and do something good for my school.” Knowledge Bowl is a club that students can join as a way to compete with other schools in a way that doesn’t consist of athletics. When Jack Olinger, a Junior on the team, was asked about if he thinks Knowledge Bowl gets enough credit at school he said “No, I wish Knowledge Bowl got more credit but it is what it is.”

For the Seahawks, they can only look forward to the future and put their finish this year behind them. This was Bill’s final season, but he is excited for the future of the team. Leland Smith will be taking over as the coach next year. To get better results next year, Olinger said “We need to study and practice more so that we can do better. We went in a little unprepared but we will fix that next year.” To succeed in Knowledge Bowl like any other activity in life, you have to work hard and keep pushing forward even when you don’t do as well as you want to. With a better mindset, preparation and a new coach, the Peninsula Knowledge Bowl team has a bright future and can build on their performance this year and place higher next year.