Valeri Orloff is no stranger to competition.
Richmond Hill High School’s AP Psychology and Honors World History teacher was a volleyball coach for 16 years, and was notably behind the Wildcats' volleyball team’s history-making run to an Elite Eight state playoff appearance in 2018.
But as the advisor of Richmond Hill’s Academic Quiz Bowl Team, Orloff’s afternoons aren’t filled with volleyball blocks but red buzzers instead.
“The kids are brilliant,” said Valeri Orloff. “My goal as a coach is to give them the resources they need. Things like [quiz bowl] study material and tips on how to buzz in faster.”
The Quiz Bowl team meets on Tuesday afternoons at Orloff’s homeroom, where dozens of students practice answering buzz-in questions from subjects ranging from literature and fine arts to science and current events and “literally anything” in between.
“It gives you the opportunity to use knowledge [from school] in a very sort of fun, competitive way,” said senior Joanna Xiao on Quiz Bowl. She first joined Quiz Bowl with Orloff in her junior year–the same year the club got running for the first time.
“I met Joanna in her sophomore year and she had approached me to start a quiz bowl here [at Richmond Hill High School] because she had done it in middle school,” Valeri Orloff said.
The Quiz Bowl team has since participated in a handful of scrimmages and tournaments, and most recently competed in the GATA (Georgia Academic Team Association) Winter Open in Newnan, where Richmond Hill’s varsity team (set A) placed first with 2260 points.
Although Quiz Bowl is only in its second year, both Orloff and Xiao have already seen an uptick in interest already, with “roughly 40 students” in the program already.
Senior Victoria Herrera-Nunez is one such newcomer, having been convinced by her friend Joanna to join.
“The idea of Quiz Bowl was really interesting, to be able to share a lot of the knowledge that you have [from school],” Herrera-Nunez said.
“And I just thought it’d be really fun to do this kind of thing with our friends.”
With Richmond Hill’s top performance in the GATA Winter Open, the school has now qualified for the 2024 High School National Championship set to be hosted in Atlanta from May 24-26, on Memorial Day weekend.