BY KATLAN THOMERSON
Glasgow News 1
Twelve teams from across the nation traveled to Glasgow to compete in the fifth year of The Jesse Brown Small School Quiz Bowl Event established by math teacher Todd Garrison.
“We did fine. The field was so strong. There weren’t any bad teams there,” coach Garisson said. “Four teams tied 3-3 and we lost on a tie breaker, so we ended not being able to get any higher than ninth.”
Garrison has been a teacher at Glasgow High School for 16 years and has coached the academic team for 13. He was inducted into the Kentucky Association for Academic Competition’s Hall of Fame in 2021.
In this invite-only competition, 12 small high schools gathered at GHS to take on some of the highest-ranked high school Academic Teams in United States.
“The second place team through the 11th were all capable of beating each other,” Garrison said.
The top four teams from the event automatically qualify for the National Academic Quiz Tournament Small School National Championship Tournament, according to Garrison. West Point of Alabama, Russell of Kentucky, Hallsville of Missouri, and Casey County of Kentucky placed in the Top 4, respectively.
Winning team from West Point High School of Cullman, Alabama. Katlan Thomerson/Glasgow News 1
“This is our favorite tournament of the year other than nationals,” said coach Lee Henry of West Point High School. “It’s not something you can prepare for in practice. This experience is unique in that.”
Of all the schools that have attended over the past five years, only one school has a student who’s attended all five Jesse Brown Small School Quiz Bowl Events. Brodie Henry of West Point High School began participating when he was in seventh grade. This year, as a senior, he finished first overall during the preliminary rounds.
“I like going on trips out of state and getting to experience other parts of the country,” Henry said. “My favorite category is literature.”
When creating the tournament, Garrison raised funds through sponsorships to cover some of the costs for those who travel to attend the event.
“I got major sponsors to make a five-year commitment five years ago to fund payments for hotel rooms and food so that teams could travel from far away without having to worry about it being too expensive,” Garisson said.
Though initially all sponsors who agreed to fund the event were expected to make a five-year commitment, only the following three sponsors have maintained their word: Gaunce Enterprises, Dr. Amelia and Kyle Kiser, and coach Garrison’s mother Gayle Garrison.
As coach Garrison becomes closer to retiring, he’s decided to redesign the event. Instead of covering expenses through sponsorships, next year’s attendees will be expected to cover their costs.
“We’ll still have Fun Friday. We’ll still probably feed them, but we’ll have them pay their own hotel rooms,” Garisson said. “The goal was to create an event that’s so fun and so valuable that the teams will continue to come even after the sponsorships run out.”
Garrison developed “Fun Friday” to encourage students and coaches to build relationships with one another. Typically, invitees meet at Glasgow High School to play games such as trivia, eat popcorn, and mingle with one another from 7 to 9:30 p.m. This year the teams met at the TJ Community room instead of the high school because Glasgow hosted Barren County in a basketball game Friday, Jan. 26. View a photo gallery from the game here.
Many teams looked forward to attending Glasgow’s event, but the season is far from over. Academic teams across the country will continue to participate in tournaments leading up to the statewide championships and nationals. The NAQT of Kentucky is scheduled for March 3. The NAQT’s HSNCT is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
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