Only seven trophies will be rewarded at the Honor College Scholastic Bowl competition Saturday with 23 high schools in attendance.

The 26th annual Scholastic Bowl will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the auditorium of Coleman Hall.

Edward Hillman, the event coordinator, said there are always opportunities to learn new facts.

Hillman said during each round, two teams made up of five people will answer a toss-up question.

For each toss-up question the team that answers correctly will receive 10 points.

After a correct answer on the toss-up question, the team that answered correctly will be given a bonus question that each member works on, which is worth 20 points.

“The subjects range through pretty much anything: history, biological science, life sciences, English, sociology and random knowledge,” Hillman said.

The seven teams with the most points will receive trophies. The five students who score the most points will receive medallions.

Hillman said the different topics provide the opportunity to learn about different subjects.

“It’s one of those opportunities to learn something new, because there are all kinds of stuff that I looked through that I was just like ‘man I don’t know what this stuff is,’ but the more you hear it the more you know it,” Hillman said. “It makes you a more knowledgeable person all around.”

Hillman said he participated in the scholastic bowl in high school.

“It’s a competition that you don’t have to be athletic to participate in,” Hillman said.

Margaret Messer, director of Honors Student Affairs, said it allows student to excel in all areas.

“It allows them to excel academically, whereas many of their peers are excelling in sports,” Messer said.

Messer said it gives students a chance to show what they have learned in school.

“It’s an opportunity for them to show skills and to use the information they learned inside the classroom,” Messer said. “It is just a fun trivia event.”

The competition also gives the students a chance to see Eastern’s campus, Messer said.

“The purpose of the event is to provide students from east-central Illinois to come visit Eastern and to learn about the honor’s college,” Messer said.

Messer said in past years the competition has be heated.

“It’s just fun to see the teams get excited as they win and become more proficient at the quiz process,” Messer said.

Blair Lord, provost vice president of academic affairs, will welcome the schools.

“The teams will be from schools between Chicago and Springfield,” Hillman said.

The schools that will be participating in the scholastic bowl include Armstrong, Arthur, Casey-Westfield, Charleston, Chatham-Glenwood, Cumberland (Toledo), Edwards County (Albion), Effingham, Fairfield, Oakland, Hutsonville, Marshall, Mattoon, Mt. Carmel, Neoga, Newton, Oblong, Paris, Robinson, Salem, St. Anthony (Effingham), Teutopolis and Windsor.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].