National History Bee

Writing this blog entry this week is going to be kind of challenging, because, well, I signed a waver saying I wouldn't say very much about it. But I'm going to try, because the topic is so darn joyful!

On Thursday of this week, I got a funny email at work saying that The History Channel would be at Trinity over the weekend filming the final round of the National History Bee. Sixteen of our nation's most delightful and awkward middle schoolers would be descending upon our fair campus to duke it out for a $50,000 scholarship. That is a lot of pressure for a 7th grader, just saying! And best of all, Al Roker, everybody's favorite weatherman, would be hosting the showdown. The email asked employees if they wanted free tickets to the event. I jumped at the opportunity, and convinced Jason, as well as my long time friend Kate, to join me for a "nerdilicious" afternoon.

Al Roker!

I didn't really know what to expect when I arrived at the set. I have never been part of a studio audience before. It turns out that filming a show is an arduous process, even if there is a game in progress. If someone doesn't look at the camera the right way, or if a mic shorts out, or if the judges have to double check an answer, everything comes screeching to a halt, and there has to be a retake. I really felt bad for the kids, all of the stopping and starting must have been so exhausting mentally!

Even though it was a slow time filming, I had a blast. The best part of the day was making friends with all of the contestants' families. The kids were from all over the country- Wisconsin, Alaska, California, Pennsylvania. It felt almost like a beauty pageant. No joke- some of these kids were little "bee" professionals. They were experts to the circuit, they brought obnoxious helicopter parents with them, and they had a cocky swag that told the world this wasn't their first rodeo. Other kids were total rookies and seemed shocked to be on national television. A few were literally paralyzed on stage, poor things. But those kids- the underdogs- were my obvious favorites.

One family in particular really captured my heart. They were from a teensy tiny town in Pennsylvania and were so thrilled to be part of the day. Their child was shy and humble, and the whole family was gracious, warm and enthusiastic. The gang included parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even teachers. They took up almost two rows, and they all had custom made t-shirts and banners for their child. The best thing about them, though, was that they clearly were a family of values and character- I saw the dad congratulating each and every one of the contestants, complimenting every child his own child was competing with, and wishing them all luck.

Seeing Al Roker was cool too- the makeup artist kept having to jump onstage and dull down the shine of his bald head! He was a total cornball, painfully so, and maybe made one too many "Golly am I old!" jokes, but I thought he was a good selection to host something as objectively lame as a middle school history bee. Plus, it's always fun to see a celebrity in real life!

I wish I could tell you how the competition went down, who won, who were my favorites, if they won-- but I can't, for two reasons. One, there's that darn waiver. And two-- I actually don't know who won! The filming took so long that we left after three hours, with easily another hour and a half to go. I guess I'll just have to tune in to the History Channel on Friday, June 1 at 9PM (primetime, folks) and find out with the rest of the world!

Peace and Love.