Area residents can watch a University of Houston-Victoria team test its knowledge of Latino history on a national TV game show when it is broadcast locally this month. 

University of Houston-Victoria students, from left, Juan Diego Martinez, Luis Silvestre Torres, Elizabeth Michelle Martinez and Nicole Marie Garcia take a break from filming a national TV game show in Chicago. Vic Padelford, director of international programs, back row center, coached the team, while Daniel Ochoa, former director of Letting Education Achieve Dreams, back row right, served as assistant coach and an alternate team member. The show will air locally Saturday and Oct. 25.

"Know Your Heritage: Hispanic College Quiz” will air on KVCT at 3 p.m. Saturday and then again on KXTS at 2 p.m. Oct. 25. KVCT is located on Channel 3 for those with cable, Channel 19 through antenna and 19.1 for digital on air. KXTS is located on Channel 9, cable; Channel 41, antenna; and 25.3, digital on air.

UHV was selected in March to send a team to Chicago to compete against seven other universities on the TV game show. UHV students Juan Diego Martinez, Luis Silvestre Torres, Elizabeth Michelle Martinez and Nicole Marie Garcia were there for three days in April to tape all four episodes of the show.

The team was coached by Vic Padelford, director of international programs. Daniel Ochoa, former director of Letting Education Achieve Dreams, was the assistant coach and an alternate team member.

“All the team members told me it was an eye-opening experience to have to study to learn about their own heritage,” Padelford said. “It was a close competition, and our team really represented UHV well.”

Although the UHV team does not know exactly what it scored in the competition, the experience is one the teammates will remember.

“I was honored to do it,” Elizabeth said. “It was really great to learn more about my culture.”

She also said she enjoyed meeting other Hispanic students from universities across the country and sightseeing in Chicago.

The other universities represented in the competition were:

• City Colleges of Chicago
• East Los Angeles College – Monterey Park, Calif.
• New Mexico State University – Las Cruces, N.M.
• Our Lady of the Lake University – San Antonio
• St. Peter’s College – Jersey City, N.J.
• San Diego State University
• Whittier College – Whittier, Calif.

Each team had to answer a series of multiple-choice questions taken from the book “A History of Latinos in America – Harvest of Empire” by Juan Gonzalez. The team received points for answering questions correctly, and the questions became harder each round. Teams were eliminated as the competition advanced.

Chicago’s Central City Productions produced the show and paid for the UHV team’s airline tickets, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, six copies of the book, a study guide and other expenses.