High School Quiz Show ®, GBH’s academic tournament for Massachusetts high school students, will premiere its 15th season on Saturday, February 3. Over 16 weeks, 17 teams from across Massachusetts will go head-to-head for the chance to advance in the bracket.
“For more than a decade, High School Quiz Show has provided a consistent and exciting opportunity for local high school students to showcase their academic excellence within our community,” said Susan Goldberg, GBH president and CEO. “As we kick-off the 15th season, I wish the best of luck to all of the competing teams and look forward to seeing who will be crowned High School Quiz Show State Champion!”
Joe Hanson, creator and host of PBS Digital Studios’ Be Smart, will host the upcoming season, replacing long-time host Billy Costa who stepped away to focus on other professional ventures.
Hanson is a science writer, biologist, educator, and YouTube creator. He is the creator and host of Be Smart, an award-winning science education show from PBS that celebrates curiosity and the pleasure of finding things out. Be Smart has amassed more than 5 million subscribers across all platforms and more than half a billion views on YouTube. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and his science writing has been published by WIRED, Nautilus, Scientific American and Texas Monthly.
“I am unbelievably excited to host the 15th season of High School Quiz Show and to have the opportunity to celebrate curiosity and the pleasure of finding things out, the very premise of Be Smart, within a new format and community,” said Hanson. “I was the captain of my junior high academic team and feel as though life has come full circle. I look forward to getting to know this season’s coaches, team members, and school communities and to an exciting competition amidst so many others who know that it’s okay to be smart!”
Each week, teams of four students representing schools from across the Commonwealth will compete in categories including math, history, science, literature, civics and current events. At the culmination of the competition on May 18, the top-scoring team will be named Season 15 High School Quiz Show state champions.
Season 14 State Champion, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School will return to the competition after an impressive win last year against Mansfield High School. Several previous champions are also competing to reclaim their titles including Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (season 5), Andover High School (season 9), Lexington High School (seasons 7 and 8), and North Quincy High School (seasons 4 and 13).
Four schools will be making their High School Quiz Show debuts including Boston College High School, Maynard High School, Roxbury Latin School and Saint John’s High School.
The season premieres with a Wild Card match between Maynard High School and Saint John’s High School, airing Saturday, February 3 at 6pm ET on GBH 2 and the High School Quiz Show YouTube channel.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating our 15th Season of High School Quiz Show and could not be more grateful to Billy Costa for his tremendous contribution to the success and longevity of the series,” said High School Quiz Show co-creator and Executive Producer Hillary Wells. “We are also delighted to introduce Joe Hanson as the host of season 15. Joe brings a palpable love and excitement for learning that’s well aligned with High School Quiz Show competitors and fans. He’ll fit right in!”
The 17 teams competing in Season 15 of High School Quiz Show are:
● Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton
● Andover High School, Andover
● Boston College High School, Dorchester
● Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Cambridge
● Commonwealth School, Boston
● Hopkinton High School, Hopkinton
● Lexington High School, Lexington
● Littleton High School, Littleton
● Mansfield High School, Mansfield
● Maynard High School, Maynard
● North Quincy High School, Quincy
● Phillips Academy, Andover
● Roxbury Latin School, West Roxbury
● Saint John’s High School, Shrewsbury
● Somerville High School, Somerville
● South High Community School, Worcester
● Weston High School, Weston
Season 15 of High School Quiz Show will be filmed during the weekends of January 20-21 and 27-28. Free tickets to attend the live tapings can be reserved here.
Major funding for High School Quiz Show is provided by Safety Insurance. Additional funding is provided by the Museum of Science, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Xfinity, UMass Amherst, Peabody Essex Museum and Subaru of New England. High School Quiz Show is endorsed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and the Massachusetts PTA.
For more information, visit highschoolquizshow.org and follow the show on YouTube, Facebook, X(formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
