Rockville High Wins in First 'It's Academic' Appearance of Season

Rockville High School finished strong in the first round of this season’s "It’s Academic" quiz show on Saturday, winning with 635 points.

The team, consisting of Thomas Keating, 16, Kelly Reeder, 17, and Tomas Breach, 17, faced off against students from South Lakes and Centreville high schools on the quiz show, which is now in its 50th season. Rockville correctly answered the most questions in each of the five rounds.

“I was sitting there, we were in the 590s and I was like, ‘Wow, we’re almost at the 600s!’” said Reeder, Rockville's team captain.

“I sort of expected it,” said Mike Smith, the team’s assistant coach. Smith said the team recently had “a few major breakthroughs” and he felt pretty confident that Rockville will continue to do well throughout the season.

South Lakes finished in second place with 380, with Centreville at 370.

“I didn’t look at the score through the entire game,” Breach said.

About 30 people attended the taping, including Rockville High alumni Tyler Babich and Raheel Awan. Babich and Awan now attend the University of Maryland, College Park. Last year, they were on the Rockville team that won the "It's Academic" Superbowl, defeating teams from the Gilman School in Baltimore and Charlottesville (VA) High in the championship round.

Each member of this year's Rockville team has his or her own strengths, said coach Dave Goodrich. Breach, for example, “knows everything about government,” while Reeder’s area of expertise is chemistry.

“They work very well together,” said Goodrich, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “They complement each other well and they mesh, like, one will get in a jam and the others will help pull them out.”

After the taping, the Rockville team went to its traditional post-taping lunch at Armand’s Chicago Pizzeria, where they celebrated over cheese, pepperoni and sausage pizzas.

“There’s a family feel to some of it,” said Connie Goodrich, Dave’s wife. The team often practices at the Goodrich home.

“We put a buzz system up on the kitchen table and we just play,” Dave said. “We have a lot of old, transcribed game sets.” Smith helps the team practice by playing against them, Goodrich said.

The team will next play in April, during the "It’s Academic" playoffs, Goodrich said. Should it win the playoff match, Rockville will continue onto the semifinals. If it wins the finals for the region, the team will then compete against schools from other regions in the Superbowl.

“I’m really excited, I’m really looking forward to the next game,” Keating said. “I’d say the sky’s the limit, but it’s farther than that.”

Donna and Bill Keating, Thomas’ parents, said they were both very proud of their son and the team’s achievement.

“We appreciate Dr. Goodrich and his wife for the time he takes with young people,” Donna said.

The episode, though taped Saturday, will air at 10:30 a.m. on March 19 on NBC4.

Giant Food, an "It’s Academic" sponsor, will have specials on food for students who attend Rockville, South Lakes or Centreville.

Correction: The original article has been changed to correct the spelling of Raheel Awan. Rockville Patch regrets the error.