Kids Compete in U.S. Naval Academy's Black History Quiz Bowl

Michelle Ferguson, a 3rd Class Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, stood at a podium in a small classroom on the academy grounds Saturday morning as she posed a question to two teams of local middle-schoolers.

“This woman became the first African-American woman to hold a pilot’s license ...,” she read, as the kids listened, and shouted “oooooh” as they thought of the answer.

A few minutes later in the room next door, Midshipman 4th Class Patrick Edmond encouraged a table of students from Severna Park Middle School.

“Good job guys,” he said.

The students and midshipmen came together for the academy’s Black History Quiz Bowl, which was hosted by the Midshipmen Black Studies Club and the National Society of Black Engineers. It was the second year of the event, but the first year Anne Arundel County schools competed. Teams attending represented Severna Park, Bates and Brooklyn Park middle schools as well as Arnold Elementary.

“It just really brings joy to my heart that we’re able to just go out there and you know help them grow and mature and just give out the information,” said Midshipman 3rd Class Greg McMillan, co-organizer of the event.

“All of us, that’s what we’re trained to do you know. We’re gonna go out and we’re gonna be in ships, we’re gonna be in charge of platoons, we’re gonna have to be taking care of people so this is kind of what we’re already training to do,” said Midshipman 1st Class Natalie Logan, who also organized the event. “So while we’re here, we can reach out to the kids out in the community and they love it.”  

The event corresponded with the Benjamin Banneker Tutoring program, which started about two years ago. On designated Saturdays, about 40 students from Anne Arundel County public schools head over to the academy, where they are tutored by midshipmen. The Quiz Bowl also helped students from the participating teams prepare for the upcoming statewide Black Saga Quiz Bowl competition in March.

DeMarcus Lewis, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Bates Middle School said the event offers students a unique learning experience.

“They’re getting a sense of leadership, public speaking skills and an opportunity to meet other students around the state to learn about not only black history, but American history,” Lewis said.

Markesa Oliver, the Social Studies Department Chair for Brooklyn Park Middle School said the experience gives students “inspiration, guidance, mentorship.”

She also said it gave her students a chance to learn in a different atmosphere, adding that some of them had never been to Annapolis or the Naval Academy.

Before the competition, students got to take a tour of the academy grounds.

Two weeks earlier, they met Wesley Brown—the first African American to graduate from the Naval Academy.

Many students said touring the academy was their favorite part of participating.

Team "Running with the Wolves," made up of three students from Arnold Elementary School, won the competition but the smiles and high-fives made it clear that everyone walked home a winner.

Maia Bonner-Bey, a Brooklyn Park Middle School Student, said the competition taught her “to never give up.”

Parents of the students involved said they could see the positive impact.

When Charles Duckett, a parent-volunteer who leads "Reflections," the Severna Park Quiz Bowl team, was asked about the impact this had on his eighth-grade son, Charles Jr., he said there isn't "enough ink in the pen” to write down all he had to say.

Duckett said in addition to meeting other students and working with the midshipmen, his son gained a sense of “self pride about what his life is about and what others did before him.”

“It’s really neat to be able to sit down and have a conversation with your child about Carter G. Woodson and Benjamin Banneker and so on and so forth,” he said.