JMS teams place at state middle school Knowledge Bowl academic competition

When it comes to students “showing what they know,” there are few activities that can match the excitement and fast pace of Knowledge Bowl. Think of an academic competition, somewhat similar to the television show Jeopardy, where teams of 4-6 students compete against other schools from across the Twin Cities metro area. 

Success at state: The five-month Knowledge Bowl season wrapped up for 2025-26 with the state invitational held Feb. 21 at Davinci Academy in Blaine. Highlights of success from that culminating event include. 

• Jackson Middle School placed five teams in the top 20 overall at the state invitational, including “The Stragglers” who took third place, “Pugtatos” in fifth place, and “Hungry Echnidas” in sixth place. JMS “Google it” and “Goofy Goobers” also finished in the top 20.
• Oak View Middle School teams, the “Flaming Hot Chinchillas” and “Inferno Iguanas”, also competed at state. 
• “JMS Pugtatos” won the “Movin' on up” award at state and at another meet during the season. This award is presented to teams who make the biggest jump during a meet - starting out at a lower rank and moving up throughout the competition. The "Pugtatos" team includes 7th graders Drake Kotarski, Aarohee Anand, Henry Johnson, Edward Gerrits, Mason Peterson, and Johanna Ruphert

Show what you know: A Knowledge Bowl competition includes three-rounds of questions covering a variety of topics including math, geography, literature, science, history, pop culture, and current events. Students hold weekly practices and compete in a number of meets throughout the metro area from October to February. 

Jackson Middle School hosted eight teams this season. Highlights from their season include:

• "Hungry Echidnas," comprising 8th graders Kalyane Vu, Priya KC, Timothy Tran, Henry Berwyn, and Avery Tran, took 1st place twice and placed in the top five at other meets.  
•  "The Stragglers," made up of a mix of 6th-8th students, Elliana Barnes, Ruby Graham, Luca Ngo, Oludotun Ajayi, Samuel Fru, and Aleigha Moody, earned in the top 5 twice. 

Inside the bowl: SparkPath (formerly Success Beyond the Classroom) hosts Knowledge Bowl through a partnership with the educational cooperative Brightworks and has a 30-plus year history of working with schools to provide relevant, highly-valued enrichment programs to students across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. 

Liz Johnson, Elise Miller, and Anne Smarjesse serve as Knowledge Bowl coaches at Jackson Middle School.