• Related story: More about BAAL
• Related story: Sample BAAL questions. How did you do? 

BY JASMINE TA, Read This! writer 

With fingers strategically poised over their buzzers, students from University High School in San Francisco eagerly awaited their next bonus question: “What is the name of the fictional bear who lived in the trunk of a tree under the name ‘Sanders’ and liked to collect honey?”

By answering questions such as these, the University High students beat their competitors -- Mission San Jose, Milpitas and Santa Teresa high schools -- during a Bay Area Academic League competition Feb. 15 at Milpitas High.

BAAL is a trivia competition between various high school clubs. Students are tested in their knowledge of history, science, art, literature, current events and pop culture. Thirty-seven Bay Area schools are competing this season. They compete two seasons a year, with 11 games each season.

The competitions -- complete with buzzers -- pit high school teams of three to four against each other, with a BAAL official acting as moderator. Each competition contains four rounds (category, team, bonus and lightning), and the team that gains the most points by the end wins.

 “BAAL is a fun way to compete with academic rivals,” said Gaius Stern, the organization’s president. He also organizes the competitions and moderates most of them. “It’s contagious and energizing. Students get to learn certain unusual things. They learn knowledge.”

Anh Nguyen, a sophomore at Milpitas High and president of the Knowledgebowl club, says BAAL is exhilarating.

“It gives you kind of a thrill, especially to know that you studied it and know the answer,” Nguyen said. “It’s fun to think like you’re on ‘Jeopardy.’ The buzzers are also fun, especially for gamers who have fast reflexes. “

BAAL competitions keeps players alert because the subjects can be just about anything, said Ryan Ko, a senior  and vice president of the Academic Challenge club at Mission San Jose High in Fremont. This randomness provides a break from academics and makes the competition fun, he said. 

“Random is good,” Ko said. “You have to be able to branch out.”

However, the broad range of topics makes it harder for competitors to study for BAAL contests, which is how Stern intended the competition to work. He likes to create questions that are relevant to students, but in a subtle way. Stern’s favorite questions are on accidental moments in history and how things would be different.

These questions, however, can sometimes baffle first-time competitors.

Stern “can throw anything he wants at us,” Tuong Phan, a senior at Milpitas High and first-time competitor, said. “So it’s more challenging, because we don’t know what to study for.”

Studying may not even help, according to Ko. He advocates paying attention in school, because many of the questions come from subjects that you learn in class.

“Being aware is the best thing you can do,” Ko said. “Pay attention to current events. Pay attention to what you read.”

Not only does BAAL promote academic challenge, but it brings competitors closer, Nguyen said. Her fellow competitors in her school’s Knowledgebowl group meet every Friday to hold practice rounds.

“When you’re in Knowledgebowl, you’re a family, and you work together to beat another school,” Nguyen said. “You also feel this sense of pride that your school is able to do so well.

That sense of pride sticks with you, even when you don’t place first in the competition, said Charles Dickey, a senior at Santa Teresa High in San Jose.

“It’s OK not winning,” Dickey said. “We were just there having fun.” 

The best part of BAAL is the knowledge that competitors gain. “It’s an experience that will open your eyes to the world,” Nguyen said.

Jasmine Ta is a senior at Milpitas High.