Allie Perison
Editor in Chief
This Saturday, various members of the Junior World Affairs Council, better known as JWAC, will participate in the annual WorldQuest competition for which they have been preparing for since Nov. 1.
WorldQuest is an annual competition sponsored by the world affairs council of Dallas. Each year, there are 10 different topics chosen ranging from world events to sports knowledge. This year, categories include great decisions of 2009, the World Cup, migration patterns, food production throughout the world, genocide, world music, infectious diseases concentrating on AIDS and malaria throughout Africa, Caribbean and Oman.
“We have these really huge binders with all of these pages dedicated to our topics,” senior WorldQuest member Drew Hasson said. “We get quizzes over the readings that have the smallest details on them. It is incredibly hard.”
Last year was the first time for CHS to participate in WorldQuest. It placed in the top third of the teams at the competition. This year, the team hope to do better.
“Plano is always a powerhouse team,” JWAC and WorldQuest sponsor Rita Bauer said. “This year, my kids are saying they are going to win, so we will see. They really just want to do better than last year. This group is really delightful to work with because they have studied enthusiastically while still preparing for Heritage Night. They seem to be able to just do it all.”
The members are split up into three teams of four. Each member is designated three topics to study to ensure at least one person will have specified knowledge on a specific topic. With the topics being so broad, it is necessary to break up the information so no one is overwhelmed.
“We learn a lot through this,” senior WorldQuest participant Suwetha Amsavelu said. “It is cool because I am doing pandemics which I find really interesting. I am getting a lot of knowledge on things that I didn’t know anything about. I like it because I am actually getting something out of it.”
Since nobody knows which questions to expect at the competition, Bauer makes practice quizzes. The questions are very detailed with specifics on names and dates. Even the most minute element of a subject may appear, so it is vital that all students are well prepared.
“They are a great group,” Bauer said. “I have known many of the students for four years. They are like my little babies. They may be 17 and 18 but they are still my babies. They started out in my human geography class and I have been able to watch them all grow up and mature and share their successes. It has been an absolute delight.”
With a leader like Bauer, the World Quest students are confident. This is Bauer’s last year to coach World Quest students as after 36 years of teaching, nine of which were spent at CHS, she is retiring.
“It is bittersweet giving this up, but I have the next stage of my life to look forward to,” Bauer said. “We will find a wonderful sponsor to replace me who will carry on not only JWAC, but WorldQuest as well.”
Bauer’s current students do not take her retirement lightly.
“She is simply awesome,” Hasson said. “I am sad she is leaving because other people won’t get to experience her. I can’t imagine any of this going on without her.”
