With the start of the new year comes the 2016 academic competition season. Ward Melville’s Science Bowl, Quiz Bowl, and Science Olympiad teams are working diligently to prepare for their upcoming tournaments.

On January 30^th, the Science Bowl team will compete in their first and most important tournament of the year. For this purpose, team members Rajiv Moturu, Roshan Patel, Nima Mohammadi, Andrew Mata, and Kathryn Zhao have been studying independently and building teamwork skills at their Thursday meetings. They focus their studying on six topics: earth and space science, chemistry, physics, biology, math, and energy. In addition to studying, the team has been perfecting their buzzer skills. According to senior member Rajiv Moturu, “Buzzer skills are developed through fast reflexes, and quick information recall.” They hope that their intensive preparation will pay off with a first place win, allowing the team to attend the national tournament.

Next, the Quiz Bowl team has already begun its competition season. At their Friday meetings, the team works on answering questions covering all fields of knowledge–including popular culture, sports, and science. Thus far, the varsity quiz bowl team has secured one first place and one second place win. Team members Ian Baram, Drake Eggleston, Dylan Masters, Nima Mohammadi, and Nikita Podobedov are hoping to win their upcoming regional tournament. In the junior varsity division, the team has been very successful with two first place wins.

Finally, the Science Olympiad teams started their season last December, with the varsity group winning third place at their first invitation tournament. To prepare, three teams of fifteen students–teams A, B, and C–are continuing to work together to take on over twenty events pertaining to several scientific subjects. Ward Melville’s top two teams are heading to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) on January 23^rd to compete against teams from all across the nation. Then, on January 30^th, all three teams will compete in the regional tournament. A victory at regionals will qualify Ward Melville for states. The varsity team members, led by captains Mohit Singh and Coco Wander, hope to compete in the national tournament this year.