Walking through the doors of the WGBH Studio in Boston would not have been possible for DHS students Nayha Tandon, Jake Owens, Cali Warner, Keegan Remy-Miller, Jack Lindblom, and Adam Carreiro if it wasn’t for their own preparation and devotion to the WGBH High School Quiz Show Competition.

DHS Math Teacher and quiz show coach Donald York described just how hard the team worked. “We did a lot of Sporcle and practiced on the Internet. Our practices were on Wednesdays and were no less than one hour.”

The Quiz Show team didn’t just practice at the school, but they also made the effort to go to one another’s houses to study practice questions and watch Jeopardy on their own every now and then. DHS junior Cali Warner said, “All of the practice was worthwhile.”

The journey started for these six intellectual gladiators in September when Mr. York passed around a paper asking if anyone would be interested in trying out for the quiz show team. He had about 50 or so students sign up, but only 20 students showed up to participate.

After weeks of Mr. York grilling the students with practice questions, it became clear that Adam, Cali, Keegan, and Jack would be the Quiz Show contestants with Jake and Nayha as the alternates.

The quiz show contestants needed to have knowledge on a variety of topics, which is why junior Jack Lindblom felt it was worthwhile competing in the High School Quiz Show. “I would say that it definitely was a lot of fun because I got to use my wealth of useless information. I liked competing against the best of the best schools,” Lindblom said.

Lindblom and the group’s first task was to then compete in October. After successfully completing this stage, the group then moved onto the next stage against Arlington High School, which took place Saturday, February 5.

DHS principal Kerry Lynch summarized how she felt about DHS being represented.

“I was so excited when we qualified, and I feel really grateful to Mr. York for his coaching and to the students for their excellent efforts,” she said. “It is an excellent way to showcase our high school and our talent.”

The bus ride up to Boston had 14 people, including three cheerleaders, the four contestants, two alternates, and three fans. The team seemed very relaxed and a bit anxious to get on the show.

Once the bus arrived at the studio, everyone’s perception of what it would be like to go to the show changed. Everything from how a quiz show is run to how it’s produced was different from what I had first envisioned.

When we first got off the bus, a camera man asked us if we could reenter the bus so he could take a video of us getting off. This footage could quite possibly be used when the quiz show is aired on television. When the contestants first entered the building they were immediately interviewed on camera and then taken aside to speak to a Boston Globe reporter.

The excitement for the contestants didn’t end there. They then were taken backstage to put on make-up.

To add to the excitement before going on television they were able to take a picture with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. The meeting was a brief one, but meeting any former presidential candidate is exciting. Then Kiss 108’s and TV Diner’s Billy Costa, the host of High School Quiz Show, came and met the contestants.

While all of this excitement was taking place for the contestants, all of the DHS fans, which included  DHS Principal Kerry Lynch, video teacher  Michelle Alexander, math teacher Rachelle Lemieux, three DHS cheerleaders, and the contestants’ friends and family, filed into the filming studio.

We were then taken into our seats and given orders of how to act when the host Billy Costa said something funny or serious, and how to respond when the camera was filming the crowd. There were multiple times when the studio manager Ron Milton asked us to act in a particular way for the camera. This included telling us to clap or yell louder and also to redo a reaction when it wasn’t what he wanted.

 “I was surprised by how much of the taping was staged. I almost felt like an actor,” Ms. Lynch said.

Ms. Lynch went onto explain. “Wow! It was fun,” she said. “I thought WGBH were incredible hosts. I was fascinated by all the steps that took place during the taping.”

DHS junior Keegan Remy-Miller, who entered the studio while some of Milton’s techniques were being used, said, “It was a great life experience, not only to see how a TV show is made, but to be a part of it as well.”

Even with all of the entertainment for the crowd and celebrity status that the contestants had during the day, the group’s main goal was to compete well in the quiz show. All of the hours that the contestants devoted to the show would hopefully be useful in a show that would take less than an hour. There were also some minor adjustments that the contestants had to make.

For example, the buzzer system. Senior Adam Carreiro said, “I wish I had another opportunity because the learning curve is hard; it takes time to get accustomed to the buzzer; it’s also hard to ring ahead of other people.”

Although I cannot divulge what the results were until after the show is aired, I would recommend anyone to watch the culmination of such an exciting day for these DHS students.

It can be seen on WGBH, Channel 2, at 7 p.m. on February 20.