By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter 
Members of the Petersfield High School quiz team are from left Dorival Hylton, Velinda Knott, Nickeita Jones, Stacey Ann Myles, Veneisha Pinnock and Patrice Beckford. Missing from the photo are Andrew Miller, Omar McIntosh, Randine JoeHill and Simone Ellis. - Patrick Campbell
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN THE makeshift study area, six students of the Petersfield High School are huddled together. Four members of the group are missing, but on most days all 10 of them can be found in this room, just big enough to seat them. It's their first time in the Schools Challenge Quiz Competition, and these 10th and 11th graders hope to make their presence felt.
The team started in February, when two teachers, Terrence Brown and Milton Ewitt, initiated a quiz club at the school. Inter-grade competitions were held and the winners formed part of the quiz team.
Since April, they have devoted themselves to studying for the competition. They know that only four of them will be chosen to represent the school, and each one wants to be in the final four.
It has not been easy. Being a part of the quiz team means studying for long hours, five days a week. They have had to learn new subjects, like French, which is not a part of the school curriculum. Nevertheless, they are excited about learning new things that normally would not have been taught in the classroom.
"It is very interesting... we learn about the different countries and their capitals, and about the rivers and lakes all around the world," said 15-year-old Veneisha Pinnock. "It helps me a whole lot in my school work."
Not only do these students want to excel in the competition. They also hope that their presence will help to change the negative image that precedes many of the reformed secondary schools.
Sixteen-year-old Velinda Knott is happy that she has the opportunity to change this negative perception of the school. "I think the Schools Challenge Quiz gives us the opportunity to excel and to show that there are many things about this school that are not just negative, but positive. We have to push forward the positive things and put the negative things behind."
That is something Principal Basil Chambers is banking on. "It's a new milestone that we have reached. It will show that this school is progressing like many other schools of this type. We have been highlighted negatively and the positives many people do not know. Well, this positive they will have to know, because they will see us on TV when we are disposing of quite a few teams."
