‘As Schools Match Wits’ returns for 61st season

Date: 1/17/2022

WESTFIELD – New England Public Media’s timeless high school quiz show, “As Schools Match Wits,” has returned for its 61st season with some regular teams returning to the fold after a year off due to the pandemic.

The season kicked off Jan. 8 with a match between Windsor High School and Pope Francis Preparatory School, which Windsor High School won 210 to 190.

Filming of the newest season began in November, with the return of an altered setup due to COVID-19. “As Schools Match Wits” is filmed in the studio of Westfield State University, where traditionally all of the participants and host Beth Ward would gather in the studio itself for filming.

Westfield State Video Production and Television Operations Coordinator Mark St. Jean said that COVID-19 precautions that were used last season will return for episodes filmed this season. Beth Ward and the teams will be separated in different rooms, and teams will only have three starting members, rather than the traditional four.

From their separate rooms, and with no spectators, the student contestants go through multiple rounds of questions relating to different school subjects. Though each match pits one high school against one other, the winner of a given match doesn’t matter, as each team appears just once in the regular season, and the teams with the highest scores, regardless of whether they won their match, move on to the playoffs.

The 61st season brings with it the return of some teams that had to miss the last season for various reasons due to the pandemic.

Linnae Rondeau is an AP Environmental Science teacher at Chicopee High School, and is the coach for the “As Schools Match Wits” team, featuring students Richard Paige, Lillian Chapdelaine and Kaylee Hutchinson.

Rondeau said that Chicopee had to take a year off from the quiz show last season despite being a regular contestant. Because the day of filming is technically a field trip for the student contestants, and field trips weren’t allowed to take place last year, they were unable to participate. For most of the team, it was their final chance to appear on the show, as they were seniors last year.

“We only had one student left over from last year,” said Rondeau.
She said that rebuilding a quiz team in the midst of a pandemic was difficult, and led to a rather quick turnaround between first starting to practice together and the date they were given to film.

They began practicing together in September, and had one of the season’s first filming sessions in November for their match against Hall High School of West Hartford, CT. Their episode has not yet aired, however, so Rondeau was unable to disclose the result of their match.

Westfield High School had a similar story to that of Chicopee, as it had to miss the 60th season, despite being just a few miles from where the show is taped. Kate Pawul, the coach for the Westfield High quiz team, said that they only had two students last year, while “As Schools Match Wits” requires at least three.

Because the show had limited the number of contestant schools, Pawul said that she opted for her team to bow out, as she didn’t want to take up a limited spot if she couldn’t guarantee a full team.

“We still had a quiz team, but we couldn’t do ‘As Schools Match Wits,’” said Pawul.

Westfield team member Andrew O’Sullivan, a sophomore and one of the two members of the team last year, said that the switch from remote meetings to in-person has felt like starting everything over again.

Ben Miller, a freshman joining the team for the first time, said that he and the others are excited to be able to finally take part in the show. Westfield High School will face Mount Greylock High School in an episode scheduled to film on March 19 and air on April 16.

“I’m excited, but a bit nervous to be on TV,” said Miller, “This has been fun with a lot of preparation.”

Connor Gelinas, a sophomore on the Westfield team, said that they felt like a well-balanced team when it comes to knowledge of different subjects.

Over the course of the season, 36 different local high schools will face off, concluding with a playoff race for the Collamore Cup, named for the show’s original creator Leonard Collamore.