On Saturday, March 7th, Midwood sent a group of ten students to the New York City High School Regional competition of the US Department of Energy National Science Bowl. Twenty two teams entered the event, which was held at Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Midwood students have not participted in a regional qualifier for the National Science Bowl since 2005 when the closest regional event was at Brookhaven National Laboratories in Suffolk County. The teams at this year’s competition represented some of the best schools in New York City — including teams from specialized high schools (Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Queens High School for the Sciences) and elite private schools (Dalton, Trinity, Horace Mann, Browning).
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It is with great pleasure that I announce that Midwood’s A team finished the competition as the fourth best team and the third best school. Regis High School won the competition behind the strength of one phenomenal senior who had received grades of 5 on Advanced Placement Chemistry and Calculus BC as an 8th grader. Hunter College High School defended their home turf with teams taking second, third, and fifth place. Midwood A was one of the last two undefeated teams remaining in the competition before losing consecutive matches to Hunter A and Hunter B. Not only did Midwood’s A team show they could compete, Midwood’s B team finished in a tie for 13th place.
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The Midwood A team consists of Helen Wong (senior), Bart Rosenzweig (junior), Samuel Makarovskiy (junior), Austin Siu (junior), and Laila Akallal (junior). The Midwood B team consists of Joseph Parziale (junior), Irla Belli (junior), Elizabeth Skapley (sophomore), Jennifer Phu (sophomore), and Ethan Sam (sophomore). All of the students who took part in this competition are members of Midwood’s Ocean Science Team. These students have worked very hard to be as successful as they are. A great deal of credit should be given to Helen Wong for encouraging their studies and Ms. Kimberly Lau for giving them so much of her free time.