T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM - Marshalltown High School XLP Instructor Susan Fritzell, left, says junior Jaeger Purchase, right, does very well at history and geography questions during quiz bowl competitions. She entered him in the state History Bee in January, and he returned as the champion.

“Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

That well-known saying does not apply to Marshalltown High School Junior Jaeger Purchase, this year’s Iowa History Bee champion.

Purchase, 17, son of Jeremy and Amy Purchase, claimed the title during the bee at Northwest High School in Waukee on Jan. 25.

“I was very excited because that was the first big competition medal I have won – ever,” he said. “It was against some people who knew their stuff and people who were generally pretty interested in history. I was excited to know that I am the best history person in Iowa.”

MHS Extended Learning Program (XLP) teacher Susan Fritzell said Purchase is also on the quiz bowl team. When she found out about the special history competition, she asked him if he wanted to try it and represent Marshalltown for the first time.

“When we do quiz bowl, he’s very good when we do the history questions and geography questions,” she said. “He just loves it.”

Fritzell was present at the state History Bee and was not surprised when Purchase was declared the winner.

“There was one student who was very equal [to him,]” she said. “They were having fun with each other. They were both very good.”

Purchase’s victory gives him the opportunity to attend the National History Bee in Arlington, Va., in April. However, he said it would be very expensive to make the trip.

“If the school could pay for it, I might see myself doing it,” Purchase said. “The school might not be very keen on flying one person out to another part of the country during the school year. I probably would have to pay for it myself.”

National History Bee participants who do well in Arlington then have the opportunity to attend the International History Olympiad in Paris, where scholarships are given.

Interest in history

There were six other participants in the Iowa History Bee, from schools such as St. Edmond Catholic and Chariton, who sat through sets of 30 questions. Whoever buzzed in first and answered a question correctly received a point, and generally Purchase was quick on the uptake, he said.

He said there was no particular theme, and questions revolved around any aspect of history.

To prepare for the bee, Purchase turned to website QB Reader, which provides users with a variety of trivia questions.

“A lot of it is you just have to drill that information into your brain,” he said. “You have to keep hammering it into your brain until you can reliably always say what you need to say.”

A big thing about practicing on the website was Purchase said he picked up context clues and indicators. For example, he said if a question has the name of a place that sounds like it is from southeast Asia, that narrows down the possible answers.

“That’s the way I got past a lot of the challenge events,” Purchase said.

In fact, Asian history is one of his favorite genres. Learning about the different cultures and empires through the centuries captured his interest.

“Most people don’t know about them, but they still have very unique forms of governance,” he said. “It’s interesting to learn how the leaders interacted with the environment and their subjects.”

Purchase said the Khmer Empire of Cambodia, which lasted from 802 to 1431, was particularly famous for constructing the Hindu-Buddhist temple Angkor Wat, considered one of the largest religious structures in the world.

“It can still be seen today,” he said. “For the environment of southeast Asia which was decently swampy with a lot of rivers, it was a very massive undertaking. It is very impressive that it is still up today.”

Purchase reflected on what created his interest in history. In eighth grade social studies, he said some of the history became more in-depth.

“I went searching for more information about what we were talking about,” Purchase said. “That’s what led me to be more interested in history.”

His skills and interest in history might play a large role in his future. After graduating from high school, Purchase sees himself possibly attending Grinnell College in Grinnell and majoring in political science or historiography, the study of methods historians used to write about history.

“Political science is connected to history,” he said. “A lot of political science theory is based on history, but also political science is very important nowadays for understanding the world we live in. I think that could help with more recent analysis of public events.”

For peers and younger students who are interested in pursuing or learning more history, Purchase said it might not have the greatest career prospects, but a person can gain valuable skills and assets.

“Like critical analysis, which you can use later in life,” he said. “So, I say go for it, even if you’re not going into a history-related field. You should if you really do love history.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.