On March 18th, 2017 Menchville High School sent four teams to compete in the 10th Annual Sister Cities of Newport News (SCNN) Globalbee Tournament at the Midtown Community Center. The Menchville Teams were mostly made up of German students traveling to Greifswald, Germany with SCNN in June of 2017.

At the tournament there were 30 teams from different schools and organizations, including Menchville High School, Woodside High School, Hampton High School, Christopher Newport University and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The group representing PETA has won every tournament since the competition started in 2007.

The teams sent from Menchville include Team Janney, Menchville Team 1, Menchville Team 2, Menchville Team 3.  Team Janney was an all sophomore team with Emma Janney, Kelly Ritenour, Ruby Meyer, Nathan Poplin, and Isabella Heller. Menchville Team 1 had Dustin Zuniga, Shane McFadden, Benjamin Mitchell, and Hunter Young. Menchville Team 2 consisted of Jamie Peltz, Bethany Self, Matther Scarberry, and Kendahl Bell. Menchville Team 3 included Alex May, Charlie Ruble, Kyle Miller, Byron Guju, and Zack Hudges.

When the students first arrived they were told to find their team name on a table and sit there. Then once the tournament started students decided who would be their “scribe” and write their answers and who would sit out for the round, only four people could play at a time. During the first round the questions were fairly simple and got progressively harder as the competition proceeded. Rounds consisted of anywhere from 9-11 questions. During the time between rounds one representative from SCNN would say the answers, when they said the answer the teams had an opportunity to challenge answers that they did not agree with. When answers were challenged all teams were hoping that the answer would either get changed or stay the same because in the end, the team with the most points wins.

After the first ten rounds the teams reassembled to finish the last five rounds, which were the hardest. The last round was completed at one in the afternoon and then the scores were projected onto a projection screen. The Warwick Faculty/Parents won first overall and took home the “Bill Williams Cup of Global Knowledge”, a bowl shaped trophy. Hampton High School received first in the high school division and Christopher Newport University won first in the college division.

After all of the rounds were finished, the spectators and teams got a complimentary lunch of pizza, fruit, and cookies.

During the lunch, Kate Helwig (the Executive Director of SCNN) gave out two scholarships to high school students, Menchville High School. Senior Kyle Miller, from Peninsula Catholic High School, was awarded his scholarship for his college tuition. Sophomore Emma Janney was given the money to use for anything she wanted. Janney will use the money to pay for her summer exchange trip to Greifswald, Germany with Sister Cities and Menchville German teacher Frau Christina Willett.

The most surprising part of the tournament was when the Parents and Faculty of Warwick won the trophy.