There is a team at Elder that answers questions and gets gym credit for it.

Of course, I am talking about Elder’s most underrated team: The Academic Team. This team competes with other schools to answer trivia questions that cover a wide range of academic subjects. Last year’s Varsity Academic Team finished with a 16-3 record. This was only the third time in Elder’s history that the team finished with three losses or less.

Senior Ethan Plagge, an Academic Team member, believes that the team is “pretty solid this year.” Ethan feels that is due to the fact that the Academic Team has “a lot more ‘balanced’ team this year, with multiple people knowing about different types of topics.” Similarly, Academic Team member Senior Kevin Klayer believes that “everyone on the team has their one thing they’re knowledgeable in. There is no one best player on the team.” Senior Joe Book feels the same. Still, Book feels like there is one Academic Team member that is “by far” the best weapon on Elder’s team: Kevin Klayer.

While Plagge was convinced to join the team by his older brother, Book and Klayer got involved for a different reason. They both went to St. William for grade school and started participating in this activity then. When they got to Elder, they both continued to pursue this passion. Book especially likes the Academic Team because of the man that runs it: Mr. Ceddia.

Book believes that Mr. Ceddia is one of the most underrated teachers at Elder. “We all hear about Mr. Quatman, but Mr. Ceddia is where it’s at.” Book wishes that Ceddia could be as popular as Quatman among Elder students. Book and the rest of the team meet together in Mr. Ceddia’s room Tuesdays after school for about an hour and a half. These meetings can be fun because, according to Kevin, Mr. Ceddia “tells a lot of stories and he knows a lot. He tells a lot of random cool facts. He’s just a cool, laid back kind of guy.” With leadership they admire so much, this team is destined to do well.