12 Poly students participated in levels 3 and 4 of the annual Japan Bowl competition. The competition took place at Loyola Marymount University on Saturday, Mar. 7.
Poly’s team competed against Stevenson High School, Venice High School, The Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, and Campbell Hall, finishing in 3rd place in level 3 and 2nd place in level 4.
Watson Sensei, AP Japanese teacher and coach of the Japan Bowl team, made sure that her students were ready for the competition.
To prepare for the event, the Poly team members studied trivia in categories such as Japanese history, characters, idiomatic phrases, “flora and fauna,” and pop culture.
“I was interested [in Japan Bowl] because, as a student of Japanese, I’m always looking for opportunities to improve my language skills and pursue things that would allow me to learn more than just what’s in class,” said junior Olivia Hayes.
Venice High School, Stevenson High School, and Poly made it to the the level 4 championship round.
There was also an individual round as well as a toss up round, where competitors raced to buzz in their trivia answers.
The competition is designed to challenge students in a variety of areas of the Japanese language.
The activities test participants’ abilities in applying what they have learned in the classroom to fast, spontaneous trials.
The teams were given points and tested on their pronunciation, accuracy, spelling, and speed. “I learned a lot and had fun. Plus, I got to have experience working in a team,” said Hayes.
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