Trivia as a GDS Team Sport

Throughout its history, GDS has striven to provide a comprehensive education that prepares students for a lifetime of learning. There are few better ways to test just how comprehensive an education is than trivia contests. Since the late 1970s, GDS has participated in It’s Academic, considered the longest-running quiz show in TV history according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Familiarly known as It’s Ac, the show, which debuted in 1961, features students from DC and Baltimore metropolitan area schools competing against one another. 

The show was the brainchild of TV producer Sophie Altman, who served as executive producer until her death in 2008. In the late ’70s, Sophie approached then-Head of School Gladys Stern to convince her that GDS students simply had to participate. Gladys, in turn, tapped HS history teacher Gary Nicolai, who had successfully started a Model UN Club a few years before. 

“I didn’t have any experience doing this and had to create something from the bottom up,” recalled Gary. “I collected thousands of questions from quiz books, topics previously tested on It’s Ac, facts about math and literature, which we put into categories. Then we tested ourselves on this knowledge.”

Roberta Feldman ’86, who was captain of GDS’s It’s Ac team during her junior and senior years, recalls those trivia-filled packets: “We had practices two or three times a week after school. There were no computers, of course. Gary had sheets of handwritten, Xeroxed trivia questions. To this day, I know all kinds of crazy stuff, and the only reason I know it is because of It’s Ac.” 

In the early years, before GDS had sports teams of any distinction, competing in It’s Academic provided an outlet for school spirit and helped put GDS on the map as an intellectually rigorous institution. Although there were no GDS cheerleaders on the set when the team competed, unlike some other schools, team members’ friends, teachers, and relatives turned out to root for a Hopper win. 

As anyone who has watched Jeopardy! knows, winning contestants need more than encyclopedic brains. They also need quick reflexes to hit the buzzer before anyone else. “The key that separates you is being able to chime in with the buzzer at the right time so you’re not locked out to answer a question,” explained Gary. The team practiced with their own set of buzzers, supplied by a fan, and watched the show carefully to familiarize themselves with the verbal cadence of host Mac McGarry, who asked all the questions. “You had to time hitting the buzzer based on when Mac was going to finish asking the question,” Gary added. 

After Gary relocated to Philadelphia, the role of coach passed to teachers Alan Sternstein, Joe Wolfson, and then Sue Ikenberry, who continues to prepare today’s students for their It’s Ac showings. For the students who have participated over the years, the opportunity to be part of a team competing under the bright lights of a TV studio was unforgettable.

“It was the highlight of my high school career,” said Roberta. “There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t think about it. I still have my trophy.” 

NB:  Sue also oversees GDS's Quiz Bowl, the non-televised trivia competition that grew in tandem with It’s Academic. GDS Quiz Bowl alumnus Matt Jackson '10 carried his trivia expertise to the national stage in 2015, capturing a 13-game winning streak on Jeopardy! and earning $411,612 to become one of the show’s most dominant contestants.