Although they have only finished one competition, the It’s Academic team believes it is strong this year. Led by senior Andy (Phuc) Tran, and juniors Alexis Garretson and Olivia Buckley, the team won their first competition in 20 years on September 24. The Atoms won with a score of 470, beating Oxon Hill, which scored a 400, and Mount Vernon, which posted a 250. Now the team must prepare for its next competition, which will take place in March.

“We got to the playoffs, which are in March, so now we’ve got a long road ahead of us,” sponsor and history teacher Meghan Saladino said.

The team meets every Friday for an hour in Saladino’s room to go over general trivia questions in preparation for their competitions.

“It’s kind of like Jeopardy, the questions can be on basically anything,” Garretson said. “You either answer as a team or by yourself.”

Thus far, the team has been very successful at utilizing each member’s strengths in their favor.

“I watch the history channel a lot and so the history and geography questions are easier for me to memorize,” Tran said.

“Andy answers a lot of the geography questions for us, but I like to answer the literature questions,” Buckley said.

The team is hoping that this early-season win foreshadows a successful year ahead for them. But until the playoffs in March, they will keep practicing trivia questions and gaining knowledge, which could be the difference between a win or loss in the competition.