Academic Teams Take Competition Season by Storm

Practices are running late. Uniforms are getting washed frequently. Airplane tickets are getting booked for cross-country travel. And parents are delivering team dinners.

It’s competition season at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School. But it’s for scholars – not athletes.

From government and foreign languages to the efficacy of relief pitchers and pop culture, the school has teams dedicated to nearly every academic discipline. And these teams of ambitious, highly motivated and talented students are bringing home top honors in local, regional and national competitions.

As the students explain, these opportunities, largely available through clubs, help define and elevate their experiences over these four years of high school. Funds raised by the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation helps underwrite these programs, with teams requesting grants to support related costs, particularly travel. 

“MLWGS is not only about the classes, it is about all of the rich opportunities that supplement our regular academic lives,” said Sonia Chornodolsky, a senior who competes on two teams. “Such opportunities empower MLWGS students with independence and responsibility. They are truly the heart of the Maggie L. Walker experience.”

Now, let’s catch up with a few of this year’s academic teams.

 

Model UN Tackles Challenges on Global Stage

Chornodolsky serves as Secretary-General of GSMUN XXVII, one of the largest student-run Model United Nations conferences in the state. Now in its 27th year, the conference hosts more than 500 delegates, with this year’s committees exploring topics from the rise of the Second Mexican Empire to the fall of colonial Algeria. Delegates are tasked with devising solutions.

“I picked GSMUN as an academic extracurricular because of the community I saw,” she said. “GSMUN is not only a conference that we organize and run, but an opportunity for like-minded students to collaborate and support each other.”

Now in her fourth year with the program, Sonia’s passion for Model UN has grown with each committee session and every spirited debate. Last year, she served as Under-Secretary-General of Specialized Agencies. This year, she leads the entire Secretariat, presiding over a conference that features 19 specialized committees and over 350 attendees.

When she first joined, she asked the top student leader how to make the most of this experience. His advice? Invest in the community and make the most of every opportunity to spend time with her club peers. “I’ve taken his advice to heart and participated in every GSMUN since to the fullest of my ability,” she said.

The skills developed through Model UN have carried over into her academic work. “Not only does Model UN challenge me to be a more articulate and independent student, the subject material supplements my classes,” she said. “I am consistently able to apply the knowledge I garner from Model UN.”

The most rewarding part? “I always love working with my team to create fun crisis updates,” Sonia said, smiling. “It is incredibly rewarding to see how happy the delegates are when presented with fun and challenging crises.”

 

From Academics to Pop Culture, Quiz Bowl Serves Up Anything

Quiz Bowl – also known as Scholastic Bowl or Battle of the Brains – combines quick intellect, teamwork and a passion for learning. Under faculty sponsor Adam Rotche, the team finished as state runners-up in the Virginia High School League and is now preparing for the High School National Championship Tournament in May,

Quiz Bowl pits four-member teams against each other to answer rapid-fire questions across subjects such as history, science, literature, math and pop culture. Students say it’s about more than just trivia: It’s about finding a community of curious minds.

Junior David Lins got his start in Rotche’s biology class, where trivia questions were a fun classroom diversion. “Since then, I’ve gotten totally sucked in and probably spend more time in the Quiz Bowl room than any other at the school,” said Lins, assistant director for the school’s internal tournament. Next year, as director, he will manage logistics and question writing.

Rotche, who has coached Quiz Bowl for five years, values working with students who love learning. “It’s a great way to connect with students outside the classroom and guide them through the emotional highs and lows of competition, without actually having to be sporty or athletic,” he said.

The team of about 30 practices daily at lunch, with more focused sessions after school. Many students even shape their course schedules, including taking AP classes, to deepen their knowledge in key areas. Regular invitational tournaments help sharpen reflexes and strategy.

Senior Katherine Watson said the experience goes beyond academic growth. “The opportunity to engage with the Quiz Bowl community, both within and outside of MLWGS, has been so much fun,” she said. “There are always great people who enjoy learning, which makes the experience even more valuable.” Lins agreed: “That’s the biggest benefit of Quiz Bowl. It allows you to connect with some of the smartest people (often with the largest personalities) at the school and learn a lot from them.”

He also recalls one moment watching teams in the national competition when they got a question about roller coasters, which are a personal obsession for him. “In a playoff match that decided the outcome of the entire tournament, the margin came down to one question about roller coasters,” he said. “I can proudly say that if I was on the losing team during that match, I would have been able to get that question correct – and that team would have been the best in the entire country.”

 

We the People Dives into Law, Government and Democracy

Through “We the People: The Citizen and The Constitution,” students take a deep dive into law, government and democracy. Led by coach Sam Ulmschneider, this year’s 24-member team competed among the nation’s best in early April, after bringing its legacy of excellence to earlier regional and state events. This year, the team added a seventh-place finish to its record of five national titles.

The event mimics a congressional hearing, where students serve as expert witnesses and testify on constitutional issues before a panel of judges. Divided into six units – each focusing on topics like the Bill of Rights or political philosophy – the students present a four-minute prepared response to a complex question, followed by an intense eight-minute discussion. “The prepared statement is just the start,” said Ulmschneider, now in his 11th year as coach and a former Maggie Walker competitor himself. “The real challenge is thinking on their feet in the Q&A.”

Preparation extends far beyond class, with early-morning sessions, after-school meetings and weekend practices at libraries and coffee shops. “With six units and 30-minute hearings, there’s not enough time in class,” he says. “Students are constantly researching, writing, and refining arguments.” The team also holds full-scale practice hearings with outside experts to simulate competition conditions.

We the People equips students with skills in research, public speaking and civic engagement that they will carry into college and beyond. “They may be debating Supreme Court cases or 18th-century philosophy, but they’re also learning to analyze, listen and engage in meaningful discourse,” Ulmschneider said. “It’s about preparing them to be thoughtful citizens and leaders.”

 

Japan Bowl Challenges Language, Culture and Other Knowledge

Six students headed in early April for the national Japan Bowl, held at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. The competition challenged them on how well they know Japanese language, culture, history, geography and current events. Special topics this year include haiku, the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, and Japanese historical eras.

Students compete in teams of three, divided by their Japanese class level—Level 2 and Level 3. “Since the Japanese class is primarily focused on language, preparing for and participating in Japan Bowl gives students the opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of Japan,” said Yoko Eshita, now leading a third Maggie Walker team. “It also builds students’ confidence in their ability to learn the Japanese language, develops a sense of leadership and fosters communication skills.”

During rigorous weekly training sessions, students create and quiz each other on potential questions to sharpen their skills and build teamwork. This year, the team benefited from a teaching assistant from Japan who has helped them tackle advanced topics such as idioms and Japanese geography. 

Beyond the competition, Japan Bowl offers students a unique networking opportunity as they participate in career panels featuring professionals who use Japanese in their work. In the first year, the team met with Embassy of Japan officials, who were so impressed that they later visited Maggie Walker. 

“Japan Bowl has helped grow the presence of the Japanese program and has inspired students to start learning the language at Maggie Walker,” Eshita said. 

 

Crunching Baseball Numbers in Sabermetrics Competition

Since first competing in 2014, Maggie Walker’s team has stood out at the SABR Analytics Diamond Dollars Case Competition, designed largely for top university students from across the country to tackle real-world baseball analytics challenges. Not only was the team the first high school to compete, Maggie Walker has claimed the top prize five times, second only to Syracuse University.

In this year’s contest, students were asked to design a method for valuing the effectiveness of relief pitchers – a challenge requiring deep knowledge of statistics, baseball and communication. This year, Maggie Walker, under the direction of Dickson Benesh, sent 12 students on three teams.

“I had never presented in front of an audience outside of a classroom, nor designed mathematical research and analysis with the aim of sharing it, so I think that this experience will be a great advantage for me going forward,” Bennett Huddle said.

Ryan Karami also noted the challenge of stepping onto a collegiate stage. “The SABR competition itself provided me with valuable insights into academic presentation on a large stage compared to the MLWGS classrooms,” he said. “The ability to compete with college teams and see their work was deeply inspiring and motivational.”

Aarav Lodha added, “In addition to being able to learn more about coding, data analysis, and the math behind everything we did, I was also able to practice my presentation skills. The trip also allowed me to develop deeper bonds with my classmates and friends… we were able to both learn and have fun in a new city.”

For many, the experience went far beyond numbers and charts. 

“This was my first time ever on an airplane, an overnight field trip, and even my first time in Phoenix,” Adrian Chenoweth said. “As a result of the Sabermetrics competition, I was able to improve my presentation and coding knowledge which will prepare me for college. I also got the chance to experience an area I have never been in before, being able to hike orange mountains filled with cactuses.”