On April 18, the Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society hosted its first post-Covid trivia night in the library after school. 

Rho Kappaaims to make a name for itself in the Rock Ridge community as a society that allows members to pursue an interest in social studies and give back to the community through student-driven events. “Our main goal is to do community service events and events that are related to social studies that benefit the school [and] local community–anything about social studies in general that can be offered to our member base as service opportunities,” senior president Mehul Tahiliani said.

Their latest event was a trivia night open to the entire student body. Posters throughout the school announced, “Feeling smart? Join us at Trivia Night.” “A lot of things that we think of for social science are test reviews that get everyone excited and energetic,” senior secretary Keerthana Govindarajan said. “We wanted to do something like that, but bigger, so we planned a trivia night.” 

On Tuesday, Tahiliani, Govindarajan, and senior Nicholas Biernacki led the event, which began with attendees sorting themselves into groups of four to five people. The teams then had a minute or two to come up with a team name. “Betty and the Gang,” “Cheeto Puffs,” “Lord Farquaad,” and “Teiam” (Team with an I) then faced off in four rounds of trivia, each with their own topics and rules.

First up were the toss-ups. Once Tahiliani read a question out, the teams raced to raise their hands for a chance to answer. A correct answer earned them 20 points, and an incorrect answer allowed another team to steal for 10 points. The Cheeto Puffs were the first to score points, answering Indonesia for the 4th most populated country in the world. By the end of Round one, three teams were tied at 60 points, with Team Lord Farquaad following closely behind with 40 points.

Tahiliani then announced that there would be a five minute break to relax, chat, and have some of the donated snacks before the start of Round two. The teams were eager to answer questions and wished to skip break to jump right back in.  

Round 2 was the Rapid-Fire Round. Each team chose a category and then had to answer as many questions as they could from that category in 60 seconds. There were 10 questions per category and 20 points awarded per question. Team Lord Farquaad was the first team to go, with their chosen category of Entertainment. After them was Team Cheeto Puffs with their chosen category, Food & Drink. They answered questions about what year Coca-Cola was invented and which US state is the only to grow coffee, and ultimately scored 80 points. Then, Betty and the Gang were put on the clock for General Trivia, answering questions about the New Deal and the “Sun King,” earning 60 points. Finally, Team Teiam took the floor for History questions and scored 120 points by answering questions about who the Punic Wars were fought between and what the amendment that ended Prohibition was. 

At this point, there was one other category left that didn’t get chosen by any teams, Geography. The questions for these were presented to all the teams in a toss-up style like in Round one. Teams slapped their tables for a chance to answer questions about where Angkor Wat is (Cambodia), what the flag of Bhutan is (yellow and orange with a white dragon), and what the official currency of Switzerland is (the Swiss Franc). By the end of Round two, Team Teiam held the lead, with The Cheeto Puffs following behind, and the remaining two teams standing tied behind them.

 10 minutes were put on the clock while teams worked together to answer questions like “If there is a basket of 13 apples, and you take three apples, how many do you have?” (3) for Quick logic; “What a witch does to a boiling cauldron” (stir) for Rhymes with “blur”; and “Home country of Manuel Noriega who was overthrown in 1989” (Panama) for “Starts with P.” Time was called, and sheets were collected for scoring. Finding the capital of Australia and Ethiopia turned out to be particularly tricky questions for all teams. By the end of Round three, Betty and the Gang pulled into the lead with a total of 320 points after Team Lord Farquaad with 275 points. Behind them stood Team Cheeto Puffs and Team Teiam neck and neck with 350 and 345 points.

One more break, and then it was time for the fourth and final round, Guess the Entertainment. Govindarajan played clips from movies or songs, and teams had to guess what movie or song was being played. Correct answers were worth 20 points. Govindarajan played scenes from “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Home Alone,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Zootopia.” She also played clips from Taylor Swift and Katy Perry songs.

At the end of Trivia Night, Betty and the Gang emerged victorious with a total of 500 points. Team Lord Farquaad followed with 375 points, Team Teiam with 365 points, and Team Cheeto Puffs with 350.

All in all, the event was a success. Senior Srinidhi Deekonda was one of the roughly 20 attendees. “It was amazing,” Deekonda said. “I met two new people. I also learned many things I didn’t know before, and the food was awesome. I was really grateful to come here.”