Island Trees High School Wins Regional High School Science Bowl at Brookhaven Lab

February 1, 2019

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First place winners from Island Trees High School in Levittown (from left to right): Daniel Alkon (coach), Joshua Kim, Thomas Zamroz, Marcus Llorente, David Wendt, Sheryl Lin, and Charles Smith (coach).

UPTON, NY – Levittown’s Island Trees High School garnered first place in the Long Island Regional High School Science Bowl held at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory on Saturday, Jan. 26. Island Trees competed against 19 other teams from across Long Island in one of the nation's regional competitions of the 29th Annual DOE National Science Bowl® (NSB). As the winning team, they will be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to the National Finals in Washington, D.C., scheduled for Apr. 25-29.

A series of 111 regional high school and middle school tournaments are being held across the country from January through March. Teams from diverse backgrounds are each made up of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. These teams face off in a fast-paced question-and-answer format where they are tested on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy, and math. The NSB draws more than 14,000 middle- and high-school competitors.

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Second place winners from Wheatley High School in Old Westbury (from left to right): Victor Li, Karen Li, Vedant Singh, Avinash Reddy, and Viraj Jayam

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Third place winners from Commack High School (from left to right): Luke Maciejewski, Nathan Cheung, Riley Bode, Louis Vigliette, and Kevin Chen.

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Fourth place winners from Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station (from left to right): Rena Shapiro, Eliot Yoon, Matthew Kerner, Aiden Luebker.

“The National Science Bowl® has grown into one of the most prestigious and competitive science academic competitions in the country, challenging students to excel in the STEM fields so vital to America’s future,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “I am proud to oversee a Department that provides such a unique and empowering opportunity for our nation’s students, and I am honored to congratulate Island Trees High School for advancing to the National Finals, where they will be competing against some of the brightest science, technology, and engineering students across the country.”

In 2018, Old Westbury’s Wheatley School took the top spot in Long Island’s regional competition, but in a thrilling finish this year, Island Trees edged out Wheatley to take first place. Commack High School placed third, and Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station placed fourth.

David Wendt, the team captain for Island Trees, said he and his teammates worked hard for the win. “We practiced often and challenged each other to help make our team as strong as possible. We’re happy our hard work paid off and we are looking forward to the competition in Washington D.C. where we will meet teams from across the country.”

The top 16 high school teams and the top 16 middle school teams in the National Finals will win $1,000 for their schools’ science departments. Prizes for the top two high school teams for the 2019 NSB will be announced on a later date.

In the competition at Brookhaven Lab, participating students received a Science Bowl t-shirt and winning teams also received trophies, medals, and cash awards. Prizes were courtesy of Brookhaven Lab's event sponsor, Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that manages and operates the Lab for DOE.

More about the Science Bowl

Approximately 290,000 students have participated in the NSB since it was established in 1991, and it is one of the nation's largest science competitions.   

DOE’s Office of Science manages the NSB and sponsors the NSB finals competition. More information about these events is available on the National Science Bowl® website.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

Follow @BrookhavenLab on Twitter or find us on Facebook.

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