Western Pennsylvania

International Academic Competitions is pleased to announce the 2025 Western Pennsylvania History Bee and Bowl, taking place at South Side Area HS in Hookstown, PA on January 25th, 2025!  This tournament will run on our B Set of questions, and like all IAC Varsity and Junior Varsity events, is open to all students, regardless of what state they are from, as long as they have not yet played this set of questions in the 2024-2025 academic year. 

To register, please fill out the form below.  Preregistration closes on January 17th at 11:59 pm EST.  Due to MLK Day, teams can still register with a late fee until January 21st, after which Bowl registrations are no longer guaranteed. After that date, contact hs-info@iacompetitions.com to see if registration is still possible.  Late registration fees and policies can be found here.  Individuals just participating in the Bee and/or exams can register ahead of time or on site with no late fees, though advance registration is preferred.  For further information, please email the Tournament Coordinator, Sara DelVillano at sara@iacompetitions.com. Thanks, and we look forward to welcoming you to Hookstown in January!

History Bee/Bowl
Bowl teams and Bee players start with several preliminary rounds (5 or 6 rounds in the Bowl, and 3 rounds for the Bee).  After prelims, the top Bowl teams will play in a single elimination playoff, while the top Bee players will play a 4th and final round.  The number of teams/individuals playing in playoffs will vary depending on the field size; your Tournament Director will announce this on the day of the tournament.  There will be plaques for the top Bowl teams and medals for the top 3 Bee players in each division.  Additionally, the top Bowl teams and Bee players can also qualify for our Varsity/JV National Championships in April, as well as the International History Olympiad in Paris this summer!

Exams
During the lunch break, we will offer the following National Qualifying Exams for $20 each:

• US History
• Geography (qualifies for the US Geography Championships and National Geography Bee)
• Science
• Political Science

Students can also qualify for the International Geography Championships (Summer 2026) and the International Environmental Science Olympiad (Puerto Rico – Dec. 27-31, 2024) through the Geography and Science National Qualifying Exams, respectively.

Middle and Elementary School Participation
Middle and elementary school teams and individuals are welcome to participate at this tournament in our events, following these guidelines.

Proposed Schedule
The schedule as listed below is considered tentative, and therefore may still be subject to changes due to registrations or other factors.  The schedule will be confirmed the week of the tournament when the pretournament email goes out. Students and teams looking for further guidance on the schedule should contact the Tournament Coordinator.

8:00 Doors Open, Check-In Begins
8:45 Please Arrive by This Time!
9:00 Opening Meeting
9:30 History Bowl Round 1
10:15 History Bowl Round 2
11:00 History Bowl Round 3
11:45 History Bee Opening Meeting 
12:05 History Bee Round 1
12:35 History Bee Round 2
1:00 History Bee Round 3
1:30 Lunch / National Qualifying Exams
2:30 History Bowl Round 4
3:15 History Bowl Round 5
4:00 Results Meeting
4:15 History Bee Finals
4:45 History Bowl Quarterfinals/Semifinals
5:15 History Bowl Semifinals/Finals
5:45 History Bowl Finals/End
6:15 End

Teams Attending

Varsity

1. South Side A

JV

1. South Side B *

MS

1. TBD #

Registration: