Newmark applied and got the job. The rest, as they say, is history. She loves competition and loves even more to see her students compete. Newmark likes to say that students need to learn to fail to learn to succeed. She also knows that at this age, when sports become so important, not every kid is an athlete.
Academic competitions can foster teamwork and self-esteem as well as soccer or basketball.
So she coaches two Quiz Bowl teams, three Battle of the Books teams and the Knowledge Master Open team. Her kids win those, too. In the years since Newmark began teaching social studies and coaching the History Bowl team in 1996, Carnage has made the finals every year. Three of the past five years, they've won. The victories, says the principal, have raised Carnage's academic profile.