Blair "It's Academic" team competes in second round of playoffs

Blair's team participated in the second round of the "It's Academic" competition on March 11. The event will air on Saturday, April 8 at 10 a.m. on NBC4.

The Blair team won its first-round "It's Academic" playoff match and advanced to the second round against Richard Montgomery and Langley High School. Captain Jeff Cao, Armin Rosen and Ravi Umarji, all seniors, competed under the direction of faculty coach David Fantegrossi, who said, "This year's team is a very strong team for sure."

Sophie Altman, the television program's founder and executive producer, said that 81 schools from the D.C. metropolitan area participate in the playoffs each season. "The majority of the schools are public, and all of the schools have strong teams. Richard Montgomery, Walter Johnson, Holton-Arms and Blair are all past winners, but we never know from year to year who is going to be the winner," Altman said.

Fantegrossi, who has sponsored the "It's Academic" team for four years, explained that Blair's team usually does well in the competition. "We're probably top 10 in this state, and Maryland is definitely a very competitive state," he said. "With the seniors leaving, next year's team will need a lot of work to reach the level of the current team."

Cao encouraged students to watch the show. "You might pick up trivia facts that you've never known or never wanted to know before," he said.