District Staff
Mr. David Jones
Mr. Jones played for the Northmont Academic Challenge team in high school (class of 1997) and came back to coach the high school team in 2005. A former instructor at Wright State University, since 2012 he has been a teacher in the Social Studies Department at Northmont High School where he teaches AP US Politics and Government, AP Human Geography, and AP Economics (macro and micro), and AP Psychology. He is also the high school Mock Trial advisor.
Under Mr. Jones' leadership, the high school Academic Challenge Team has won 10 state championships, 2 national championships, 3 Brain Game (televised TV show) state championships, and won a record 151 GWOC games in a row over the course of a decade.
In 2020, Mr. Jones will take over as one of the two "head coaches" for the Middle School Academic Challenge team, which he will run jointly with high school captain Samantha Street (herself, an alumni of the middle school academic team).
Under Mr. Jones' leadership, the high school Academic Challenge Team has won 10 state championships, 2 national championships, 3 Brain Game (televised TV show) state championships, and won a record 151 GWOC games in a row over the course of a decade.
In 2020, Mr. Jones will take over as one of the two "head coaches" for the Middle School Academic Challenge team, which he will run jointly with high school captain Samantha Street (herself, an alumni of the middle school academic team).
Bing
Bing played for the Northmont Academic Challenge team during her junior and senior years of high school and was a part of the team that won Northmont's first ever state championship. After graduating in 2011, Bing went to Wright State University where she started the quiz bowl program there and qualified to the national championship. Since graduation, Bing has continued to work with the middle school and high school teams, serving as assistant coach. Back in 2016, Bing qualified for a spot on Jeopardy!'s college tournament where she won her quarterfinal game and received $10,000.
Volunteer Staff
Northmont has a long tradition of current and former students returning to assist coaches at the high school and middle school levels with running practices and working with students at competitions. This year, our volunteer assistant coaches will include:
Samantha
Samantha Street joined the Middle School Academic Challenge team in 2016 where her team qualified to NAQT Nationals in its first year in existence. From 2017-2020, Samantha assisted the middle school program as a volunteer assistant coach alongside her former coach Kara Combs.
A literature specialist, Samantha captained the Northmont High School Academic Team for four years. In her time on the High School team, the team has finished in the top 100 nationally each year, has won the Ohio History Bowl State Championship, and has qualified for the NAQT and PACE National Championship tournaments each year. Samantha has consistently been recognized as one of the top quiz bowl players in the state of Ohio since her freshman year and was the valedictorian of the Northmont Class of 2021.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Samantha was one of the two "head coaches" of the Middle School team. Samantha will continue volunteering with the middle school program during the 2021 Summer and will head to Yale in the fall.
A literature specialist, Samantha captained the Northmont High School Academic Team for four years. In her time on the High School team, the team has finished in the top 100 nationally each year, has won the Ohio History Bowl State Championship, and has qualified for the NAQT and PACE National Championship tournaments each year. Samantha has consistently been recognized as one of the top quiz bowl players in the state of Ohio since her freshman year and was the valedictorian of the Northmont Class of 2021.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Samantha was one of the two "head coaches" of the Middle School team. Samantha will continue volunteering with the middle school program during the 2021 Summer and will head to Yale in the fall.
Former Staff
Kara
After starting the Middle School Academic Challenge team during her senior year in High School, Kara Combs became the team's first head coach starting in the 2017-2018 school year. Under her leadership, the team qualified for NAQT Nationals during two of her three years as coach. During the 2019-2020 season, Kara's team won four tournaments (the first four Middle School tournament wins in school history), including the 48 team Copley Invitational (the largest tournament in the state) and the Junior Varsity division of a high school tournament. Kara's 2019-2020 team had lost just once to an Ohio team before the season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kara left her position as head coach in 2020 as she works to complete her Master's Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Wright State University. Everyone at Northmont is grateful for her years and service and hope that she will rejoin us one day!!
Amara
Amara Nwanoro is a Class of 2021 graduate of Northmont High School and incoming first-year at Vanderbilt University. Amara joined the middle school academic team in 2016 and was a member of the first team to qualify for the NAQT National Championship at the Middle School level. Amara was a varsity member of the Northmont High School Academic Team for four years, where she specialized in fine arts. Amara was a valedictorian for the Class of 2021.