A group of students sit at a table

A group of students from the Kentucky School for the Deaf discuss the answers to a question during a warmup contest before the Gallaudet University 2023 East Regional Academic Bowl. Photo by Joe Ragusa, March 8, 2023

The Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) kicked off the Gallaudet University 2023 East Regional Academic Bowl with a mock contest between students and staff on March 8.

The Gallaudet University Academic Bowl was established to foster academic excellence, healthy competition and sportsmanship among Deaf and hard-of-hearing youth.

Each group at KSD was asked questions in such subjects as math, current events, history and health sciences, getting 30 seconds to answer each time. The match was close throughout, but the staff members pulled away in the final round to win 54-49.

“It was enjoyable,” said Bentley White, a junior at KSD, “but I was hoping we’d win.”

A group of adults sit around two around two tables

Staff members of the Kentucky School for the Deaf faced off against students in the warmup competition before the Gallaudet University 2023 East Regional Academic Bowl. Photo by Joe Ragusa, March 8, 2023

The contest also featured some friendly jeering between students and staff as the teams traded the lead back and forth.

The banter will be largely absent when 18 schools come to participate in the actual academic bowl March 9-12. Every year, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., hosts regional competitions for teams of Deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students. Teams from each school, including KSD, will compete against each other in a series of quiz-style events until a winner is crowned. The winner then will move on to compete in the Academic Bowl Nationals at Gallaudet University from April 20-24.