Eight students — four eighth-graders from Contentnea-Savannah K8 School and four sixth-graders from Woodington Middle School — sat nervously on the Schechter Auditorium stage at the Neuse Regional Library in Kinston Wednesday morning.
The teams were taking part in the second annual Black History Knowledge Bowl.
They took turns answering questions from the event moderator, retired educator Lendell Wayne, passing a microphone from student to student.
In the end, the CSK8 team — Blake Houston, Alex Jones, Morgan O’Neal and Dylan Foss — defeated Woodington, 85-60, to win the second annual title.
“I’m really excited for my team and my school,” said Houston, the CSK8 captain. “I really thought it’d be a lot harder. … We studied hard and figured out what each person on our team was good at.”
Houston said the win was a true team effort.
“Truthfully, I think my teammates are smarter than I am,” he said with a laugh. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”
Houston and his teammates won a qualifying competition at their school earlier in the week to advance to Wednesday’s final. The CSK8 school counselor, Amy Jones, was the team’s coach.
“I’m so proud of them because this really was student-led,” Jones said. “It was a fierce competition at the school to make it to today.”
Antuan D. Hawkins, children’s librarian and program committee chairman at the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library, is the founder and organizer of the Black History Knowledge Bowl.
“The majority of people might say, ‘Everything is equal now; we have a black president,’ ” Hawkins said. “However, the things that are going on now, like with Obama being in the White House, that’s not the rule, that’s an exception to the rule. We still have so far to go.”
Wayne explained the purpose of the bowl to the participants and to those in attendance at the library.
“(It’s) to help middle school students understand how much African-Americans have prospered since their arrival in America,” she said. “As a result of determination and perseverance, the black experience and successes were written into history books devoid of any notable recognition.”
She continued, “The Black History Knowledge Bowl is also designed to instill a strong sense of self-worth, self-pride and self-determination for all students by learning from the past to make better decisions for the future.”
The Woodington team of captain Ryan Moody, D’Angel Williams, Lilly Hardison and Taylor Smith was headed by Sherry Sanderson, a social studies teacher.
“It’s important for students to study black history so they can understand the obstacles faced by African-Americans and learn about the achievements they have made over the years,” Sanderson said.
Wayne, who taught for more than 30 years in Lenoir and Wayne counties, said she was proud of both teams of students and for the way they embraced the competition.
“It is crucial that our young people value the importance of learning about other cultures and diversity,” Wayne said. “I think this is information that should be taught year-round, not just during Black History Month in February.”
Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at BCHanks.