The Chapman High School Academic Team has recently started practice, and it is safe to say there is more enthusiasm than ever.

The coaches are math teacher Rebecca Pack and science teacher Ryan Mandlove.

“We have just started practicing on Wednesdays after school, and we are also going to hold practice early in the morning for members that have to devote time to other activities.” Pack said.

She has great confidence in the team this year.

“This will be a successful year,” she said.

Pack also announced that Dorman High School will be hosting a tournament with schools competing from all over the southeast.

“We perform at our best when competitions are divided by the size of the school that is competing,” Pack said.

This prevents schools with a larger team from competing with teams with a smaller amount of members.

The competitions are formatted much like the well-known game show “Jeopardy!” Teams go head-to-head choosing different categories of quiz questions.

The team currently has 16 members, but Pack wants to make it clear that the door is certainly open for more.

The requirements to be included as a member of the team are to attend practice one per week and compete at the tournaments that are usually held on Saturdays.

She encourages students who excel in certain subjects but enjoy learning about everything. She stated that it would be ideal to have a team composed of students of every grade level.

Pack’s main goal is for students to have a good time and do their best to compete to have a successful year.

“I am looking forward to having new members join the team,” she said.