During the final varsity round of the Northern New Jersey History Bee last Saturday at Ridgewood High School, 1999 RHS graduate and 2005 Jeopardy phenom David Madden read the two remaining finalists their last questions.

A Millburn High School student won thanks to his knowledge of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, but it was clear during the final that dozens of student-participants sitting in the audience shared a high level of history knowledge.

Madden, a Princeton University graduate who is the second-longest running Jeopardy contestant next to Ken Jennings, feels like a proud father to the History Bee students he coaches.

In fact, at the History Bowl Final later that day, a four-student team from RHS won for the first time in the four-year history of the tournament. Now they face national competitions, which will be a continuing job for Madden.

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