By Kara Parker

Staff Writer

    The academic team had a great year full of competition, fun, and even a first-place finish. Jakob Diskin leads the team as the supervisor, with Vivian Funderburk and Elizabeth  Kim (EK) as Co-Presidents. 

    Through the academic team, participants study one or more of the categories: Math, English, Science, Social Studies, and General Knowledge. Then the teams compete in matches where they answer questions. When they get the questions correct, they gain points, which help them win each match. 

    Being a part of the academic team is fun and an overall positive experience. While there aren’t any official requirements, the most successful team members typically enjoy reading a lot, learning about science or history, or solving math problems. When you enjoy something, it makes team preparation easier. 

    “For science, we didn’t have that many meetings where we studied, but I would still study on my own time because I just like a lot of science,” Eliza West, a freshman and member of the academic team, said. 

    This past year, the academic team performed better than ever before since Diskin began leading. This, in and of itself, is a feat, but beyond that, many other factors make this feat seem even more impressive. Only a handful of the academic team had participated in years prior, while a large portion were new members. 

    “Last year our team was mostly seniors, and so we had a large group of people graduate,” Funderburk said. “I think I was one of two or three sophomores who were on the team, and everyone else was pretty much a senior.” 

    As a testament to the strength of the developing team, the social studies team managed to secure a first-place finish as the county’s overall highest-scoring team. Impressively, the team accomplished this feat without holding a single practice. 

    “It was a really good moment for us,” Jadyn White-Bey, a junior and student captain of the social studies team, said. “Every year, since I’ve been doing it, we’ve consistently gotten better. So this is almost like the pinnacle we’ve reached at this point. Hopefully, next year we can do even better, but I’m satisfied with where we are right now.”

    In addition to the academic team giving participating students a chance to compete and win awards, it gives students a chance to step up into roles of leadership. By building leadership skills within high school extracurriculars, students can set themselves up for success later in life.

     “Well, I’ve been really honored to have this opportunity [to have a leadership role],” Funderburk said, “Especially because I enjoyed the academic team so much last year and I thought that it was an exciting opportunity to bring people together from all kinds of different subjects.”

    There are many ways to be a leader on the team. Along with being a co-president or student captain, some students create their own roles that tailor to their interests and strengths outside of just academic knowledge. 

    For example, when West first joined the academic team, she requested the opportunity to design t-shirts for the team after noticing they didn’t have any. 

    “I wondered if they had any creative spots open, and then, when we would go to any other school, or they would come to us, they would have t-shirts, and they would all be matching… and so I designed a t-shirt,” West said. 

    While the other teams may have been physically matching in clothing, the R.J. Reynolds High School Academic Team had great team spirit and camaraderie, even without matching outfits. They put in the effort in competition, did their research, made new friends, and most importantly, had fun. They managed all these things even in the face of difficult challenges, one of which was unfair questions supposedly created with AI. 

    “Even though it did hurt us in certain matches, we kind of took it as it came,” Diskin said. “I reminded them that we’re all there to have fun. I do think that even when we did lose matches, we left with a positive attitude, looking forward to the future instead of getting too down about any one match. I’m really proud of the team, they worked really hard, they had a lot of fun, and they kept it positive even when things didn’t go our way.”

    The academic team is a great place for high school students who are looking for a fun extracurricular that helps them gain leadership skills, learn fun facts, and cultivate strong relationships with other students. The academic team is a great opportunity for students who might not be interested in sports but want to participate in competition. It’s a great opportunity for everyone from freshmen to seniors. The academic team is a great place for everyone. 

    “Everyone’s very welcoming,” White-Bey said. “We just generally have fun with our matches, try to be respectful. It’s a fun time, and it’s a fun learning opportunity too.”