by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

A trio of Sycamore Elementary School alumni combined their brain power last month to snag a mix of high honors in the junior division at the World Scholar’s Cup Global Round in Stockholm, Sweden.

The team of rising El Roble Intermediate School students 12-year-old Thijmen Post and 13-year-old Marjorie Brandt, and 13-year-old Mary Jane Erb, a rising eighth grader at Pomona’s Elite Sports Institute, not only brought home a team scholar’s bowl title, but also 12 individual medals from the high stakes academic competition held from July 12 to 17. They placed eighth overall, qualifying them for WSC’s Tournament of Champions in November.

The team also placed ninth and 14th in the team challenge and team writing competitions, respectively.

Individually, Marjorie brought home gold medals in the scholar’s challenges for art and music, social studies, literature, science, and special area categories, as well as silver in debate and writing. Mary Jane took silver in writing, the individual challenge and the scholar’s social studies challenge. Thijmen won gold in writing and silver in the scholar’s challenge special area category.

(L-R) El Roble Intermediate School students Thijmen Post and Marjorie Barndt, and Pomona Elite Sports Institute student Mary Jane Erb came away with 12 individual medals and one team gold medal at the July 16 World Scholars Cup in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo/by Rufus Cox

By far the biggest achievement was the team’s scholar’s bowl win, a buzz-in style competition that mimicked a quiz show.

“If you told me like a month before the competition, we were going to win the scholar’s bowl, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Marjorie said, citing stiff competition from teams hailing from more than 30 countries.

“We were shocked actually,” Mary Jane said. “We didn’t think we had placed. When they were announcing the first place team, we’re like ‘Oh, who could it be?’ And when they said it was a mixed team from California, we realized it was us [and] it was just like, incredible!”

“It was a thrilling experience,” Thijmen said. “I was absolutely shocked.”

This is only the second time a junior team from Claremont has made its way to the global round, according to the team’s head coach and Mary Jane’s father, John Erb, an English teacher at La Salle College Preparatory in Pasadena and doubles as the school’s academic decathlon coach.

He brought his familiarity and teaching style to the Claremont trio.

“It helps that I learned from having high schoolers first and seeing how it works for them,” said Erb. “High schoolers are different than seventh and eighth graders, but certain things [cross over], like if you need to learn a term, get a meme for it.”

Memes, which are mostly internet-based jokes and cultural items, help the young students build associations with topics and answers, Erb said. The students also utilize flash cards, Google slideshows, and online tests to prep.

Before heading to the global round, the junior team had to qualify from the World Scholar’s Cup Los Angeles regional round. Held in April at La Salle, it included some 10 teams from Claremont.

One was composed of Marjorie, Mary Jane and Charlie Rapp of El Roble, and another had Thijmen paired with Alaina Casillas of El Roble and Andrew Casillas of Condit Elementary. The team of Marjorie, Mary Jane, and Charlie finished sixth, while Thijmen, Alaina, and Andrew placed 15^th. Both teams earned a trip to the global round.

Eight other teams qualified including Our Lady of the Assumption School first-place winners Matthew Barrantes, Catalina Lozano, and Bliss Alix; El Roble’s Alex Barnes, Sadie Deely, and Maple Meyer, who finished second; a second OLA team of Annamarie Andrade, Zoe Cello, and Arianna Alvarez, fourth; a third OLA team of Connor Her, Bella Ramos, and Davin Morris, 10^th; a fourth OLA team of Gabriel Juarez, Nico Zelleke, and Allison Dioso, 24^th; a fifth OLA team with Lucas De Guzman, Kenley Ruedas, and James Dagata, that qualified at-large; as well as two teams from Sycamore: one with Bee Finseth, Lily Avnur, and Naomi Haddad, and one featuring Grace Hibbard, Mukunda Sridharan, and Carey Barndt, who placed 17^th and 18^th, respectively.

The newly formed squad of Marjorie, Thijmen and Mary Jane, were the only team to attend the global round in Stockholm. A list of winners from the regional and global rounds is at scholarscup.org/results.

Erb and Susan McWilliams Barndt, Marjorie’s mother, agreed the team’s recent showings were not only a testament to the children’s intellect and hard work, but also the education they received at Sycamore. Barndt also highlighted the trio’s initiative.

“Unlike most of the other teams they’re competing against, they don’t have a school with an official team. They don’t have an official class that prepares them. So they really did this all on their own,” Barndt said.

As a parent and coach, Erb said it’s been rewarding to see the youngsters thrive.

“My wife laughs at me and says I get a little verklempt when I see [Mary Jane] up there and winning awards,” said Erb. “I’ve seen my own high school students do it, but I’ve never actually you know, seen my own children do it, and it just kind of puts it into a new context.”

Ahead of November’s tournament of champions, the team will continue practicing weekly at Barndt’s residence.

“We bring cookies,” Erb said.