Academic Bowl's primary goal is to promote academic competition among school teams. Schools that have deaf programs send teams of high school students to compete against each other in local, regional, and national events. The Academic Bowl competition consists of a question and answer game using questions of general knowledge and quick recall in a variety of categories such as literature, English, history, geography, sports, mathematics, deaf studies, art, science, and technology, entertainment, computer lingo, and current events. The Academic Bowl for Deaf and Hard of Hearing High School Students was established by Gallaudet University in 1997.

WSD's Academic Bowl team is open to high school students who like to take on academic challenges. The team meets monthly throughout the school year. The team usually goes to competitions at the following locations: Harper College in Palatine, Illinois (November); Hersey High School in Arlington Heights (January/February); Regional and National Academic Bowl at Gallaudet University (March/April); and Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Academic Bowl at a hosting school (November).