RyleeGregg

The pandemic has stripped Marian of many traditions. Not having them to look forward to has certainly put a damper on the school year for everyone, students and teachers alike. 

When senior Eva Watson was lamenting the cancellation of many events in the past year, she and her mom came up with the idea to have a high school trivia night, much like the one that the Recruitment Team holds for seventh graders. 

“I went to Mrs. Sullivan, and I had an entire doc of planned out things. I basically was like, ‘Here’s my idea; what do I need to do in order to make this happen?’” Watson said. After a few more meetings and an estimated 50 hours of work, her idea became reality.

“I just kind of wanted to bring some joy back to the Marian community because it feels like this year, everybody’s gotten into the rut of thinking, ‘We’re gonna be down, it’s always gonna be bad, and we can’t do anything fun.’ I wanted to bring back the fun things, but do it in a safe way.”

On March 5, the happiness was palpable in Marian’s cafeteria. “The questions were all fun and geared toward our generation, which was unexpected, but awesome,” senior Casey Brattain, a member of the first place team “Girly Girls,” said. “The experience was great. I have never had so much fun at a school function. I loved being able to hang out with my friends in a safe environment.”

The team of seniors Brattain, Ola Hezel, Maddie Clark and Grace Clark ended up winning a cash prize of $100, as well as bragging rights, of course. “It was honestly shocking to win,” Brattain said. “My team knew almost nothing about trivia going in, so we were honestly just doing it for fun, which I think is why winning felt as cool as it did.”

The second place title and a trip to Topgolf went to “Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat,” the team of seniors Gracie Kerr, Emma Gunn and Grace Ellis. Coming in third was “Mateo Marcel Miller,” made up of seniors Katie Liske, MC Daubendiek and Lydia Rose. They won $10 Starbucks gift cards.

Watson didn’t work alone, however. She was joined by the senior volunteers Jess Brusnahan, Sydnee Baysa, Naomi Delkamiller, Amal Imran, Kyra Knudsen and John Watson, as well as staff members Dr. Sharon Genoways, Mrs. Jen Christen and Ms. Susie Sisson. 

“Eva approached me back in November and asked if I would be the faculty sponsor for the event,” Sisson said. “I gladly said yes! I love trivia events. For the last few years, I’ve been the emcee for the Booster Club Trivia Night, a fundraising event attended by adults. I was also a contestant on Jeopardy! back in 2005, so my love for random knowledge runs deep.”

 But more than this, Sisson shared Watson’s motivation as well. “This has been a tough year, so it was really great to see students having some good old-fashioned fun—just talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company.”

With such great success, the plan is to make it an annual event. Next year, it will be chaired by junior Josie Golka.