To the Times:Delco Hi-Q, the oldest continuous academic quiz competition in the United States, provides a unique experience for the 210 student scholars who compete each year. When we think of competition, our minds generate images of competitors battling it out for supremacy while scoring points hoping to edge out opponents for a win, its cheering crowds chanting the names of their favorite players, encouraging them to beat the rival team. Those are images usually reserved for athletes on the field. Academic quiz competitions bring the battles of the sports arena to the academic arena. The crowds are still there and the competition is just as fierce. However, it is not a matter of who is physically strongest or most athletically skilled. Teams put their academic prowess to the test in these contests. Thousands of spectators attend Hi-Q contest each season and are witness to the best and brightest students in the area.
Quiz competitions came of age during the radio days. In the summer of 1948, Scott Paper public relation executives hoped to create a radio program that would appeal to a younger generation. Through negotiations with Chester radio station WPWA, “Scott’s Hi-Q” was born.
In the Spring of 1949, the first Hi-Q champion emerged as Media, Swarthmore, Collingdale, Glen-Nor, and Haverford High Schools vied for the championship. Media was victorious and each team member received gold engraved watches. In what may have been a sign of things to come, the grand prize of the radio competition was an auditorium size television set.
Eventually the radio broadcasts were cancelled as it became increasingly evident that Hi-Q was a school activity as much a part of school as its classes, athletic, drama, and music classes, and all the other elements that make up the high school experience.
Scott Paper eventually faded away but Hi-Q lives on. The partnership between the academic and business communities ensured that this Delaware County based tradition lived on. It expanded into other areas and continues here and in Alabama, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Washington. The champion teams of those areas meet in a National Championship using the latest advancements in video conferencing.
The sponsorship of organizations such as Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, Wilbur C. and Betty Lea Henderson Foundation, Kimberly Clark, and Delaware County Daily Times allows FMFCU Foundation and Delaware County Intermediate to continue offering this program to 21 Delaware County schools for many years to come. Delco Hi-Q’s longevity is largely due to these organizations, educators, and students embracing the program. This unique tradition continues while older competitions have faded away.
Since 1948, schools have merged, sponsors have changed, and the program has evolved but Scott Paper’s founding principles have remained, “a program that stimulates young minds and a constructive contribution to the youth of Delaware County, Pennsylvania.”
Rick Durante is Executive Director of Delco Hi-Q and Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union Foundation.
