Black History Quiz Bowl features education, art
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 25, 2018 3:05 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Spring Creek Middle School students Maia Phillips, left, and Raygan King look at Black History Month art while waiting to participate in the Goldsboro/Wayne County NAACP annual Black History Quiz Bowl on Saturday at the Wayne County Museum.
Full Size
News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
This is a sampling of some of the artwork submitted for the Goldsboro/Wayne County the annual Black History Quiz Bowl and art/literature competitions hosted by the NAACP.
Spring Creek Middle School fifth-graders Maia Phillips, 11, and Raygan King, 11, said they thought they would do well in Saturday's Black History Quiz Bowl.
"We have been studying a lot," Maia said. "I mean, like, a lot. I mean, like, about two months. I thought it would be fun and something new, and I can get more knowledge out of it. I kind of like history, sometimes."
Both said one of the more interesting things they had learned concerned a slave named Harriet Jacobs who had secretly lived in the attic of her owner's home for seven years before managing to escape.
"That was really interesting to me because I never thought somebody would have to do that to escape from their owner," Raygan said. "I guess her owner had thought she had escaped already."
Both said they were a little nervous but were happy to be participating.
"I have never done anything like this before and this is our school's first year for doing it," Maia said. "So it is really exciting but scary at the same time.
"Like, am I going to embarrass myself? I don't want to do that. But then again you are happy. It is the first time you have done it, and you want to try it out."
Five students from Spring Creek Middle School were in the competition.
They all studied together after school, Raygan said.
It also was online so they studied at home, too, she said.
The Goldsboro/Wayne County NAACP hosts the annual Black History Quiz Bowl and art/literature competitions to promote more unity in the community.
It was held from noon until 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wayne County Museum.
The students participated in the double-elimination individual competition for the quiz bowl.
There were prizes for first, second and third places in all three competitions.
Quiz bowl questions go as far back as the African-American culture's roots in the U.S. and all the way up to the present day.
They deal with all areas of life for African-Americans -- government, education, sports, literature, engineering, science and more -- to show the diversity in the culture.
The event has been held for several years, said Patricia Hokett, a member of the Goldsboro/Wayne County NAACP Education Committee.
"It is to educate the children from all cultures, all races, and the children are doing this," she said. "It is student art. They write beautiful poetry, and then they learn about important facts and contributions that African-Americans in the past and present have made to make America such a great country."
The NAACP works through the school system that helps get the information out to the individual schools, she said.