Great Neck South Middle School Wins Regional Middle School Science Bowl at Brookhaven Lab

March 8, 2019

Students from Great Neck South Middle School enlarge

Pictured with their coaches, Doris Stanick (left) and Diane Caplain, are the students from Great Neck South Middle School who took top honors at the Regional Middle School Science Bowl held at Brookhaven Lab on Mar. 2. From left are Samantha Zeltser, Eric Pei, Erin Wong, Richard Zhuang, and Tristan Wan.

UPTON, NY – In a fast-paced question-and-answer showdown, Great Neck South Middle School’s Team 1 edged out R.C. Murphy Jr. High School of Stony Brook to, once again, take first place in the Long Island Regional Middle School Science Bowl held at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory on Saturday, Mar. 2. Great Neck South also won the competition in 2018. Twelve teams from across Long Island competed in one of the nation’s regional competitions of the 29th Annual DOE National Science Bowl® (NSB). As the winning team, Great Neck South 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 13,500 middle- and high-school competitors.

“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.”

Danielle Davey, a science teacher from Harbor Country Day School, said she was happy that her team placed in the competition. “This was our first year participating in the competition and we’re happy that we took fourth place,” said Davey. I told my students this is about teamwork and just do your best. We are grateful to Brookhaven Lab for hosting the event and we plan to be back next year!”

Students from R. C. Murphy Jr. High School enlarge

Pictured with their coach, Patrick Brendan McManus, are students from R. C. Murphy Jr. High School who won second place at the Regional Middle School Science Bowl held at Brookhaven Lab on Mar. 2. From left to right are Kevin Shi, Joshua Lacoff, Ethan Yu, Eamonn Stamm-Walsh, and Aaron Robertson.

Students from Longwood Jr. High School enlarge

Pictured with their coach, Anne Ezelius, are students from Longwood Jr. High School who won third place at the Regional Middle School Science Bowl held at Brookhaven Lab on Mar. 2. From left to right are Katrina Ennis, Ryan Styron, William Scapaticci, and Jamel Pearsall-Turner.

Students from Harbor Country Day School enlarge

Pictured with their coach, Danielle Davey, are students from Harbor Country Day School who won fourth place at the Regional Middle School Science Bowl held at Brookhaven Lab on Mar. 2. From left to right are Sofia Cataudella, Mia Lauri, Arjun Venkatesh, and Gabriel Finger

Samantha Zeltser, a student from Great Neck South said she was nervous. “This was my first competition. We practiced after school a lot. You don’t want to let your team down, but once you get past being nervous it’s really a lot of fun,” she said.

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

In the competition at Brookhaven Lab, participating students received a Science Bowl t-shirt and winning teams also received trophies, medals, and banners. 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.

Contacts: Jane Koropsak, jane@bnl.gov, (631) 344-4909, or Peter Genzer, genzer@bnl.gov, (631) 344-3174.

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