The Port Townsend High School Knowledge Bowl team for 2019 won the 1A Knowledge Bowl State Championship March 23 at West Valley High School in Yakima. PTHS world history and contemporary world problems teacher Ben Dow co-coaches and advises the team alongside his wife, U.S. studies and AP U.S. history teacher Julianne Dow. The Dows reported that this year’s PTHS Knowledge Bowl team competed against 17 other 1A schools from across the state. “In the finals, they beat out Henrietta Lacks High School from Vancouver, and Freeman High School from Rockford, near Spokane,” Ben Dow said. Dow explained that Knowledge Bowl is a Jeopardy-style team quiz competition, covering the whole expanse of a high-end high school curriculum. “It’s an academic competition, open to all high school students, in which they compete in three regional tournaments, during the months of December through February,” Dow said.” Practices start in October and run throughout the year, and those Students who wish to compete must attend a minimum of one practice per week. When the PTHS Knowledge Bowl team took fourth place at state in 2017, Dow praised his team at the time for their combination of “knowledge, speed and intuition,” which he credited with taking them to “the next level.” The PTHS team that not only took part in the state competition, but won it this year included juniors Karen Absher and Lou Babik, as well as seniors Raphael Bakin, Gabe Petrick, Jules Short and Henry Stier. Petrick, who served as team captain this year, offered a similar diagnosis of his current team’s success to what Dow attributed the previous lineup’s accomplishments at state. “To succeed takes a lot of knowledge, a lot of speed and a little luck, with the questions breaking toward your team’s strengths,” Petrick said. Petrick noted how well the team had played together, by staying calm and maintaining a positive attitude throughout the long hours of the state tournament. Julianne Dow expanded her praise to include the Knowledge Bowl team’s extended lineup. “This was a great accomplishment to end a year when our Knowledge Bowl team really grew,” Julianne Dow said. “We had nearly 30 students participating this year, and that level of involvement really strengthened our state team.” Ben Dow added, “We always tell people that Port Townsend schools and our community create some of the most talented academic students out there. It’s great to see that reflected in a state Knowledge Bowl victory.”