Knowledge Bowl team forms scholarship fund
A group of Kamiak graduates have announced the formation of a new non-profit organization called the “Robster Craws Fund.”
The Robster Craws are a group of five Kamiak 2005 Graduates (Sam Wrzeszcz, Jeff Jones, Steven Huang, James Chin, and Keisuke Natsume) who were all members of the same Knowledge Bowl team at Kamiak.
By their senior year they had a very loyal following of fans
For the past two years the group has been giving a small scholarship to graduating Kamiak seniors who were Knowledge Bowl participants. However, they have just recently formed their own registered non-profit organization, which will enable them to collect donations and give bigger scholarships. They are also the first-ever group of Kamiak Alumni to form an organization for the purpose of benefiting their alma mater.
The Robster Craw Fund is proud to announce its new status as a registered non-profit organization and cordially invite everyone to celebrate with them at their first fundraiser.
The fundraiser will be a pasta feed at O’Donnell’s Restaurant in Everett and starts at 6 p.m. on Dec. 27. Tickets are $20 per person with all proceeds being donated to the “Robster Craw Fund.”
For more info or to RSVP please email robstercrawfund@gmail.com.
The group recently composed a brief “history” for the Beacon:
“As seniors in high school we formed a team for competition in “knowledge bowl” which is a quiz-bowl like challenge that every area high school competes in,” Sam Wrzeszcz said. “Two of us were high school cross-country runners so we thought we understood what it meant to have nobody show up to your meets. But, we were wrong. There are no spectators in knowledge bowl, just three teams in a room locked in a battle of brains. Each team answers a series of questions about almost anything. Typically meets include about 30 teams from various high schools (schools can have more than 1 team). We quickly gained a reputation for being the most eccentric Knowledge Bowl team in the area, not an easy feat in a sport that relies solely on an ability to answer trivia. Wearing matching uniforms and carrying stuffed lobsters we made our presence known both in competition and back at school in Kamiak.
“Upon completing both our final Knowledge Bowl competition and our senior year at Kamiak, the Robster Craws (with our advisor Mr. Costello) walked from the Kamiak Commons to the graduation ceremonies at the Everett Events Center in what we thought would be our final hurrah.
“It was somewhere on that 10-mile journey, though, that we began reflecting on team camaraderie and the individuals we had become, deciding that what we built was worth continuing.
“Though our successful Knowledge Bowl days were over, we couldn’t help but realize the support we had received from our peers, teachers, and administration, the people who had nurtured us the beginning of our academic career.
“We wanted a way to give back to the school and a community that had provided so much to us. So, following our freshman year of college, we drew money from our own pockets to start the Robster Craw Fund. We granted our first scholarship to the knowledge bowl senior (Joel Baxter) that best embodied the quirky, untiring spirit of the Robster Craws. Many of those in attendance at the senior awards night were caught off guard when the five young men in lobster ties opened a briefcase with 250 $1 bills in the middle of the Kamiak Commons, as a gift to a graduating Kamiak senior.
“It is clear that life has taken us in five separate directions, but this scholarship is something that will always bring us back to our home at Kamiak . In evaluating award recipients we draw upon an early shared experience that we all had in High School.
“One of the first pieces of literature that we all read in Freshman Honors English was Tennyson’s “Ulysses”. Perhaps it because we are all the type of kids that would join an organization called knowledge bowl, but we all seem to have a shared memory of studying this poem. At that younger period we didn’t realize the importance of the line, “To follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought,” but it was emphasized a great deal by our teacher. However, as we moved through Kamiak and beyond, we all came to realize that the line was an instruction.
“The pursuit of knowledge as an end is a worthy life-long quest.
“Although our group started as five young guys answering trivia questions, we hope that our scholarship will recognize and encourage all of those who “follow knowledge like a sinking star” even if you are thought of as “umm…different.”
The Robster Craws have gone their separate ways, but still maintain that special bond they developed during high school.
Steven Huang is currently a junior at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is pursuing a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration with a minor in applied statistics, with plans to enter the field of actuarial science.
Keisuke Natsume is currently a junior at the University of Washington. He is pursuing a Bachelors degree in Economics, as he plans on opening his own authentic gelato stand.
Sam Wrzeszcz is a junior at Duke University in Durham, NC where he majors in Political Science. He has spent the fall semester studying Chinese and Chinese Politics and Culture at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
James Chin is in his third of five long years at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is studying international business and Italian and intends to go to law school after completing his undergraduate work.
Jeff Jones is currently a junior at Boston University studying advertising and international relations.
