A team of Pikesville High School seniors competed June 26 in the finals of the local TV quiz show “It’s Academic.”
The PHS students — Ben Matz, Ryan Kornblit and and Jacob Lane — came in second place, falling just one question short of winning the championship. The winning team was from Howard High School in Ellicott City.
“It’s Academic,” which airs on WJZ-TV Channel 13, is now in its 60th season, making it the longest running quiz show in TV history. The show challenges local high school students with trivia questions about history, literature, mathematics and religion, among other topics.
The last time PHS qualified for the “It’s Academic” finals was in 2014.
“The competition starts with 81 teams,” said Ethan Goodman, a PHS social studies teacher for the past 18 years who serves as the school’s “It’s Academic” coach. “Twenty-seven teams advance to the playoffs. Nine make the semi-finals, and three make the finals.”
Goodman began coaching PHS’s “It’s Academic” team in 2016. He works with students on knowledge base, strategy and speed.
“I’ve spent countless hours watching past ‘It’s Academic’ episodes and scouring the internet for good questions,” said Goodman.
A Mount Washington resident and member of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, Matz first joined the “It’s Academic” club in his freshman year of high school. He served as captain this past year.
“As captain, I introduced our coach and principal on the show, gave the final answer and, on rare occasions, settled a disputed response between the three of us,” said Matz, 18, who will be studying biomedical engineering at Duke University in the fall. “Mr. Goodman plays a huge role in leading the team beyond simply running practice. He prepares, cultivates and cuts up hundreds of questions per week. I can’t say enough about his dedication to the team and his importance to our success.”
During a typical, non-pandemic year, “It’s Academic” is filmed before a live studio audience that includes family, friends, teachers, and schools’ cheerleaders and bands.
But this year, all competitions were virtual, impacting some aspects of the program’s format.
“There were no head-to-head questions that the teams needed to compete over,” said Goodman. “We got all of our questions asked at the same time. There was also a new speed-round at the end of the competition.”
Matz characterized PHS’s 2019-2020 playoff victory as a highlight of his “It’s Academic” experience.
At the last in-studio filming prior to the start of the pandemic, “we came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and never looked back, leading the match from start to finish,” he said. “In doing so, we became the last Baltimore County team left in the tournament. It was a big confidence booster for Jacob, Ryan and me because we knew that if we could make it to the final nine teams as three juniors, we could really have a special senior season.”
Goodman said he is most proud of the team’s commitment, passion and willingness to bring awareness about the “It’s Academic” program to future club members.
“We were able to inspire more students who love trivia to join our team, and I hope that we can one day make it back to the finals while I’m still coaching the team,” Goodman said
Matz said “It’s Academic” proved to be more than just a quiz show experience for him.
“It was an opportunity to forge lasting friendships and connections,” he said. “The most rewarding part of my four years doing ‘It’s Academic’ at Pikesville has to be the bonds I made with my teammates and coach over the countless hours of practice. Everyone in the club holds a special place in my heart.”
Tomer Nusinov is Jmore’s editorial staff intern.
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