Fourth Graders Invade Sports Pub
Do you know: Who was the first country artist to sell over 10 million copies of an album? Who wrote "The Gift of the Magi"? In Greek mythology, which minor goddess did Hades kidnap? Who organized the Ocracoke mounted Boy Scout Troop? Who sings "Can't Hold Us?" Which US president started the Peace Corps? What is the chemical symbol of gold? What's Miley Cyrus's real first name?
The Snowy Owls know all that and more. Except for the Miley Cyrus question, because who would know that?*
Gaffer's was the happening' spot on Ocracoke tonight as a dozen teams competed for bragging rights and the coveted plate of home-bake brownies. Gaffer's added several nice food prizes for the winner of each round and a gift certificate for the big winners.
The class hosted the second of three trivia nights at Gaffer's Sports Pub to raise money for their upcoming trip. Let's travel all the way the the NC mountains and back again! It is $5 to play. Think of it as the Winter Olympics of the mind.
The first 4th grade trivia night coincided with the arrival of an ice storm. That didn't stop about 30 people from turning up to test their knowledge of elementary language arts, science and math. Teacher Trisha Ballance is also focusing on North Carolina people, animals and history as she preps the kids for their journey.
The class helped write the questions, and they joined forces on a team at the January event. They called themselves the Builderz, "with a 'z' at the end."
The event reinforced their classroom learning, and the kids eagerly cheered when they got the right answers.
A team of players visiting from Boone was game to try, and while they conquered the science and math questions, such as "What scientific reason caused Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to be moved in 1999?" (Erosion!), they struggled with the Ocracoke History and People categories, which included questions like "What year did Ocracoke's water system start?" and "What is the name of Sam Jones' horse buried next to him at Springer's Point?" ("Ikey D would have been my next guess," one of them quipped.)
Joanie O'Neal, Sundae Horn, Caroline Temple and I joined forces as a team. Joanie was fairly confident she knew "Who took Alton Ballance hunting on the reef in his book Ocracokers?". "I think that was Dad," she said.
Our team did not know the North Carolina state insect, and lost a point to Howard Bennink and Kenny Ballance's team. Howard taught Joanie and me when we were fourth grade students at Ocracoke School, in an entirely different century. He clearly failed to teach us that the honeybee is the state insect, but he did take us to the state zoo in Asheboro, where this year's fourth graders will visit on their trip. I remember really liking the open air tram, and the mock savannah.
The tight match came down to a tie breaker question. Appropriately for the night, it was "What is the coldest temperature ever recorded in NC and where was it?" There is a sign at the top of Mt. Mitchell saying -34F is the answer. Who knows if that is true? It sufficed.
The last Tuesday in March will be the final trivia night hosted by the fourth graders.
*A certain former Snowy Owl, who defected to another team, that's who! The answer is…. Destiny Hope Cyrus.
