The History of YMQW
Prior to turn of the millennium, Ms. Olivia A. Demingoy, PCS high school Principal and Mr. Reynaldo A. Mones, PCSAA Chairman 1996-2003, had been toying with the idea of coming up with a quiz contest that would serve as a venue for PCS students to hone their skills in quiz competitions in and off campus.
Brains Revo
Midway through the year 2000, Mr. Tirso S. Gutierrez Jr. of Class 1975 and PCSAA President brought up the idea to his class during one of their planning sessions for hosting the year’s annual homecoming. They agreed to sponsor the cash prizes. Mr. Mones informed Ms. Demingoy of the availability of a sponsor and she immediately assigned Mrs. Rebecca Watson, the Registrar, to prepare the mechanics, announcements and the program as well as the questions for the contest proper. The contest date was set on November 11, 2000 as part of the celebration of the 87th Founding Anniversary of Paco Catholic School. Messrs. Gutierrez and Mones were the quizmasters.
The contest followed the same format the following year with the addition of a portion for employees. Joining Mr. Mones as quizmaster was Ms. Marielle Gazeta-Catbagan of Class 1982 and producer of ABS-CBN’s The Insider.
The contest took a hiatus in 2002.
Brains Revo Becomes YMQW 3
In 2003, the contest became a production of the PCSAA through its Committee on Education, Scholarship and Awards. Immediately, the Committee formed a team that formulated the mechanics of the contests as well as the questions themselves. As in the past, contestants were PCS students from Grade 5 up to Fourth Year. An elimination round was administered to more than 120 aspirants. The top 10 from each grade or year level qualified into the final round. In a meeting of all qualifiers, the teams were formed. Each team is composed of two members coming from different grade/year levels. A Grade 5 student is paired with a Grade 6 student in the Grade School Division, a freshman teamed up with a sophomore in the Junior High School Division and a junior and a senior form a duo in the Senior High School Division. Each team was asked to come up with a name.
Starting with this edition of the YMQW , Mr. Mones was given the full rein by co-founder Ms. Demingoy. Inasmuch as there is seasonality attached to its former name — Brains Revo —due to the craze Dance Revo, he suggested that the event be renamed the Young Minds Quiz Wiz.
YMQW4
In 2004, changes were again introduced. The top 8 students for each year level in the elimination round moved up to the final round. The pairings followed the same format as in the previous year. There were 15 questions in the easy round, 12 in the moderate and 10 in the final round. The top 5 teams in the easy round go to the moderate round where the top 3 finishers vie for the first, second and third places. Again, cash prizes, gift checks and corporate give-aways were provided by the sponsors: McDonalds, InterMed makers of Cherifer PGM, Cocolife, Avon, Globe Telecom, Aloha Alternative Learning Systems, Power Memory, SignEx, and Philippine Wine Merchants.
A total of 237 students from grade 5 to fourth year registered for the Young Minds Quiz Wiz Year 4 for a 98% increase from last year’s 120. However, only 140 participated in the elimination round held at the Instructional Media Center, Sacred Heart Building. 91 high school students and 39 intermediate grade school students took the written exams last October 23, 2004.
In a 5-hour show last November 6, 2004, the final round of the Young Minds Quiz Wiz Year 4 was held at the JCS Auditorium. The program was witnessed by over 500 students, parents and guests on the second day of the 92nd Founding Anniversary celebration of the School. Jodilia B. Cerbito, a fourth year student, and William C. Regala, a third year student, were the shows masters of ceremonies. Later, Ms. Cerbito was joined by Mr. Reynaldo A. Mones, former PCSAA chair and currently chairman of the Committee on Education, Scholarships and Awards, as quiz master. The contest was supervised by a board of judges composed of Mrs. Presentacion B. Gabriel, MAPSA Executive Secretary and former high school principal at PCS, Mr. Emilio D. Velez of Class 1971 and Mr. Reo Torres of Class 1972.
YMQW 5
The YMQW Year 5 saw the introduction of computers to the contest. For the first time, the elimination round for the individual competition was conducted on-line using the software developed by Messrs. Rolando Rosal and Vincent Calaor, IT faculty member of PCS. The final round held last November 12, 2005 at the JCS Auditorium also made use of a network of 12 online computers.
The YMQW Year 5 also broke all records in terms of participation. 300 students from all grade and year levels from grade 5 up to fourth year flocked to the computer laboratories last November 9 for the qualifying rounds. Another innovation in this year’s contest was the introduction of teams of four members. There were 64 teams that registered and participated in the elimination round. This year, however, failed to muster enough grade school participation as only 4 students from grade 6 joined their older brothers and sisters in the high school.
The YMQW Year 5 became a multi-sectoral event as the Interact Club of PCS with their mother unit from the Rotary Club of Pasay Cyber City (RCPCC) joined the core group of PCS alumni in producing the show. The emcees came from the Communications and Literary Arts Students Society or CLASS. As earlier mentioned, there were also faculty members from PCS in addition to Messrs. Rosal who helped in the 2005 edition of the project in the person of Ms. Jhoy Gahuman, moderator of the Interact Club and Mr. Vincent Calaor, another IT teacher.
The quizmasters for YMQW Year 5 were Ms. Maria Isabel Micar Dumandan of Class 2002 and Mr. Mones.
YMQW6 - First Inter-School Edition
YMQW Year 6 became the first inter-school edition of the contest held last November 11, 2006. Two schools were invited for a triangular meet but only St. Joseph School of Pandacan sent a complete delegation. As in the past, there were 3 divisions and the contestants used computers for their answers.
St. Joseph School took the championship trophy for the grade school division while the teams from PCS were champions in the junior and senior high school divisions. PCS also emerged as the overall champion.
Ms. Ayla Alim of Class 2003 was guest quizmaster with Irah Nathanne Tiburcio and Karen Joy Sosoban as emcees. The contest was supervised by a panel of judges composed of Dr. Leticia Catris as chairperson with Mr. Edison Ong of the RCPCC and Ms. Remedios Placer.
YMQW 7
YMQW Year 7 is the second inter-school edition with 3 schools participating. Students from the Manila Cathedral School joined St. Joseph’s School of Pandacan and Paco Catholic School in the contest held last November 10, 2007. However, there were only 2 divisions and both of them were for the high school students.
YMQW7 also witnessed the debut of a new software developed specifically for YMI by Mr. Dek Dimaya. It allowed the participants and the audience to view the questions as they are being asked by the quizmaster. Contestants answered the questions directly from their computer units and scores for correct answers were automatically added by the computer. The judges also had a direct link to the Internet via the facilities of SmartBro.
Ms. Auvrey Via Reyes of Class 2008, president of the Computer and Practical Arts Student Society (COMPASS) of PCS was this year’s master of ceremonies. The judges were Ms. Wilma de Pano, chairperson of the MAPSA MIS Commission and Mr. Carlos Dollendo, past president of the Rotary Club of Pasay North.
YMQW Gets Own Domain
On November 20, 2007, YM registered and acquired its own domain name — youngmindsinc.com. After encountering some technical problems, the web site was transferred from younmindsquizwiz.0catch.com to www.youngmindsinc.com on December 8, 2007, Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
YMQW 8
The Third Inter-School Edition marked YMQW's eighth year presentation on November 8, 2008. The software was upgraded with several features like a background music, countdown sound among others.
This year Pasig Catholic College joined PCS and SJS in this annual event. Ms. Ana Maria L. Agustin returns as the quizmaster with Mr. Mones. She was the contest's first quizmaster.
The judges were Mr. Rex Pedrigala of San Beda College-Alabang and Mr. Emmanuel Cosico, past president of the Rotary Club of Pasay North.
As in the past, the Interact Club handled the eliminantion round for PCS. COMPASS, the student organization for computer buffs provided some technical support.