Seniors Mara Gillis and Hulali Alford and sophomore Theresa Ginter will represent Sacred Hearts Academy on KFVE’s television program, “It’s Academic Hawaii,” an academic competition for Hawaii’s public and private high schools.

The team also includes two alternates, senior Natalie Hajinelian and sophomore Annie Oh.

The team started preparations in January with reviews of material, which can cover any subject from geography to math to Hawaiian culture.

Ginter said, “Since we’re competing on Wednesday, this week is crunch time. Basically, we’re preparing for this game show by playing trivia, Jeopardy and Wit’s End. This past week we’ve been mainly focusing on geography.”

The team’s coach, Social Studies department chair, Lurline Choy, said, “If they win this round, then they will move on and play against two other schools. They will be competing against a total of 27 schools.”

In the first round the Academy team competes on Mar. 5. The grand prize will be announced on a show airing in late March.

Gillis said, “Last year I learned a lot, but I mostly got a feel for the atmosphere. It’s a little nerve-racking but after the first round of game play, I felt a lot more relaxed and comfortable, which I’ll carry into this season. I feel more confident especially with the feeling of experience from doing this before, which I hope to carry on into the games.”