While Matt Dillon, Academic Superbowl head coach, has not yet assigned a date to the first call-out meeting for the 2013-2014 Academic Superbowl team, both Dillon and his assistant coach, James Ziegler, said that the call-out will likely take place in mid-September. The club is open to all grades. While the club does not have any established academic prerequisites, Dillon noted that Academic Superbowl is a strictly academic-based club for students who are interested in pursuing and furthering an education in the history of the world. According to Dillon, it is the responsibility of the participatory students to gather information about their assigned topic for the state competition, which is based on a predetermined theme and era. This year’s theme is westward expansion in America.

Though the club is open to all grades, Dillon said he is looking for specific traits in his applicants. “I am looking for people with good organizational skills, who are privately and personally motivated and can come and contribute towards the club. If you’re here just to screw around, this is not the club for you. There are other clubs. This is more of a strenuous, studious club,” Dillon said.

Members of the club are split into five subject squads. Each team, as well as its designated captain, will focus on a different aspect of Westward Expansion in America. The five subject squads consist of fine arts, social studies, mathematics, science and English.

According to Dillon, the primary goal of Academic Superbowl is to prepare students for a competition at Purdue in the beginning of May. At the competition students will put their knowledge to the test by competing against fellow regional high schools.

In order to prepare for the regional and state competitions, students receive a number of sources to sort through and study in the months leading up to the big events. According to Katie Doman, former Academic Superbowl participant and junior, club members will practice basic trivia and review study questions for their respective subject.

“This year, our topic is westward expansion, so we study about various things in that time period. Overall, we do a lot of practice, learning and review, mostly in study groups,” Doman said.

While all students are held accountable for thoroughly learning the material, the captain is responsible for organizing squad meetings and distributing material evenly. According to Dillon, meetings should be held approximately every two weeks after subject teams are assigned. Students have the option to meet at the Carmel Clay Public Library (CCPL), in Dillon’s room or at any other relative location. Ideally, Dillon said he wants to foster an enjoyable environment for his students in which they can continue to learn the material.

“When it comes down to it, we are facilitators,” Dillon said. “We try not, unless specifically asked, to teach them the information. That makes us a lot different than other schools. A lot of schools hire other teachers to teach each of the subject squads. I believe that since this is a volunteer-type club, and I want the kids to have ownership of it and have a good time. It is their responsibility to learn the information, but we try to facilitate as much as possible. We provide guidance, a place to study and materials necessary to learn the information. And we drive the bus, which is awesome.”