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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Which snack company’s advertising campaign included the slogan “Once you pop, you can’t stop” in the 1990s?
It was a question that stumped Dover Sherborn High School’s teens and the question that kicked off their trivia night sponsored by Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) on March 9.
After fueling up on pizza, soda, and candy, the teens composed their teams, giving themselves names such as “Trivyaasss Queen,” “Los Bluejeans,” and “Three Muskateers.” They stacked their cell phones on the table at the front of DSHS’s cafeteria, where three of their teachers coordinated the trivia game.
“We offer it so that kids have somewhere safe to go, and that’s why SADD sponsors it,” said English teacher Kelly Menice. “One of the things we hear here is that there’s never anything to do, so we try to provide a structured event that’s free and we do it in between sports seasons, too, because these are the times that destructive decisions tend to be made.”
History teacher Tom Bourque explained the rules and how the students were to wager points for each question. Aside from questions about Pringles slogans, he asked trivia questions about business, sports, and movies. After each question, students wrote their answers and wagers on a slip of paper and delivered it to English teacher Scott Huntoon, who calculated each team’s points after each round.
“I think it’s a really fun and competitive environment,” said senior Lizzy Jenkins. “In school, we’re all very academically competitive, but here, it’s kind of like a lighthearted environment for us to have and test each other’s knowledge.”
It was also the night before SATs for many of the students, and provided them with an enjoyable and relaxing evening with friends and peers before spending hours answering test questions.
At the end of each quarter, the teammates collaboratively completed a picture round, which featured Pixar pairs that they were to fill in the names of. In the last two quarters, the trivia students were given opportunities to raise their wagers for chances to either win big or lose horribly.
With dozens of students participating in the SADD trivia night, the community could rest assured that Dover and Sherborn’s teens were making safe decisions - and having fun, too.
