METHUEN — Six Methuen High School students are showing up for school at 6:15 a.m., two days per week, to prepare to compete against Amesbury High School students on a game show.
A new weekly television competition called "High School Quiz Show" will be run by Boston public broadcaster WGBH. The game show will feature up to 144 students from 24 Massachusetts schools competing in a fast-paced question and answer format. Questions will be drawn from the core Massachusetts high-school curriculum, including literature, history and science, along with current events, sports, entertainment and general knowledge, according to a WGBH press release.
"We want to shine a spotlight on intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of learning in a fun, lively and encouraging way," WGBH President Jon Abbott said in the press release.
Methuen will face Amesbury in the first round of competition at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30, at WGBH's studios in Brighton.
Methuen's team consists of all seniors.
"The students were chosen based on academics, involvement in school activities and teacher recommendations," said science teacher Jackie Oelerich.
The team meets for practice on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:15 to 7:15 a.m., and uses a SMART Board and buzzer system to practice answering questions, Oelerich said.
"We're very excited for this," Tierney Bocsi, one of the students, told School Committee members.
The rest of the game show series will be filmed on Jan. 31 and Feb. 6. Then, on May 1 and 2, the top four qualifying teams from "High School Quiz Show" will compete in the state quarterfinals, semifinals and championship with four teams from "As Schools Match Wits," the long-running series produced and broadcast by sister station WGBY.
The state finals and championship will be aired in June.
The producers of "High School Quiz Show" selected schools with consideration given to location, size, diversity and the commitment of a team coach. More than 70 schools from eastern Massachusetts applied to participate, and the selection was narrowed to 20.
"To make it fair — and fun — we wanted a complete representation of schools in Massachusetts," producer Hillary Wells said in the press release. "The participating schools range from large to small in size, from urban to suburban, from charter schools to public. The initial match-ups between the schools will be chosen randomly, with team names pulled from a hat."
Team players
Methuen High: Kelly Gearan, Ben Pare, Shivkumar Bhadola, Tierney Bocsi, Jacob Cohen and Kelsie Blouin.
Amesbury High: Patrick Hopkins, Samantha Fortin, Lauren Joyce, Peter Siess, James Pelkey and Tyler Lay.
Teams for 2010 'High School Quiz Show' season
Amesbury High; Boston Collegiate Charter School; Brighton High; The Bromfield School; Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High; Everett High; Framingham High; Hingham High; Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High; Lynn English High; Methuen High; Minuteman Career & Technical High; Nipmuc Regional High; Oakmont Regional High; Randolph High; Revere High; Quincy High; Shepherd Hill Regional High; Sturgis Charter Public School; and University Park Campus School.
Alternate schools chosen as potential substitutes: Acton-Boxborough Regional High and Wachusett Regional High.
