Most Friday nights in January, the EHS commons is packed with students and community members decked out in orange and black to support the Tiger basketball teams as they compete in another contest on the court.

But Friday, Jan. 13, the commons will be filled with teenagers in costumes competing in something unexpected—trivia.

This year marks the fifth annual EPIC Trivia Night, an event health teacher and EPIC sponsor Missi Sanders said provides a fun drug-free night for all students at EHS.

At the inaugural trivia night, Mrs. Sanders estimates there were about 10 tables of teams. Last year, 35 teams entered the competition.

Senior Carl Eastman has attended the event every year with the same team, the Guatemalan Disasters. The team captured the first place prize last year with most of the same players who competed together in eighth grade and placed fifth.

“I keep coming back because it’s good to see a group of people I talked to more in middle school and get a chance to catch up while winning some cash like we did last year,” Eastman said.

The first place team receives $200; second place wins $150 and third gets $100. Aside from monetary prizes, Mrs. Sanders said each round of questions is sponsored by a local business that provides food for the top scoring team of each round.

“The competition between the kids is fun to watch,” Mrs. Sanders said. “They really get into it.”

Teams with minimal trivia talent are still in the running for the table decoration and costume contest—an aspect of the event that has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Although question categories cannot be reveled before the event, some classic rounds such as Fill-in-the-Lyrics and Disney are expected to make the lineup as well as some new categories.

“The event takes place on Friday the 13th this year,” Mrs. Sanders said. “So we will have something to do with that.”

EPIC member and first-time Trivia Night committee member junior Hannah Beck said she enjoyed picking the categories this year because she was able to cater the questions to topics she thinks her peers will enjoy.

If you are interested in creating a team, forms are available on the spinny thing in the main office. The cost is $100 per team with a maximum of 10 players per team. Doors open at 6 p.m. and trivia starts at 7 p.m.

“My favorite part of the event is seeing how excited people are when reacting to their final scores and what place they finish in,” Beck said. “Most always do better than expected.”