Bowne students medal in Science Olympiad
(From l. to r.) STEM senior Phoebe-Anna Ocasio, sophomore Kai Jie Lin, Dr. Izzo-Iannelli, Principal I.A., and seniors Uzma Kapadia and Lizeth Flores.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Three STEM Students
from John Bowne High School
in Flushing took home first
place medals last week at
the New York City Regional
Science Olympiad held at
Grover Cleveland High School
in Ridgewood.
On Feb. 2, 71 teams from
42 high schools across the
five boroughs competed in
25 different STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) events at Grover
Cleveland High School, located
at 2127 Himrod St.
Students participated in
events such as Boomilever,
Mission Possible, Mousetrap
Vehicle, Sounds of Music and
Wright Stuff. Medals were
won by the top 10 finishers in
each event.
Students from John Bowne
— located at 63-25 Main St.
— won first place competing
against Stuyvesant and
Bronx High School of
Science in the Experimental
Design Event, where they
were required to design and
execute an experiment to best
answer the inquiry given in a
timed session.
This year’s surprise theme
was “Peripheral Vision.”
Teams were given an allotted
time to create a problem, test
a hypothesis and analyze the
data related to testing one’s
peripheral vision.
Kai Jie Lin, a sophomore
in the STEM program at John
Bowne, placed seventh in the
competition titled Mission
Possible. Lin built a device
that was set in motion by the
dropping of a ping-pong ball
that landed on a lever causing
a series of additional actions
that ended with the raising of
a platform.
“The students worked with
teachers who served as coaches
after school almost daily
preparing for the competition.
Part of their success was due
to their commitment before
the day of the competition,
the rest was due to knowledge
and creativity,” said Felicia
Bifulco, assistant principal of
STEM at John Bowne.
“Being on the team has
been an experience I can apply
to real life. It encouraged me
to face challenges and the true
meaning of teamwork,” said
Phoebe-Anna Ocasio, a senior
in the STEM Program and
Science Olympiad Team. “I’m
privileged to be at Bowne and
get this opportunity. It has
also helped build important
values like integrity.”
Principal of John Bowne
High School, Dr. Izzo-
Iannelli, expressed joy at the
team’s win.
“I am very proud of
the accomplishments and
achievements of our students
at the 2019 Science Olympiad,”
said Iannelli. “The dedication
and perseverance of our
students and staff is second to
none. They did a terrific job!
We look forward to competing
again next year.”
Meanwhile, Grover
Cleveland students Emily
Liu, Rania Taib, and Nicole
Potaczala, clinched the
highest third in the city
in Dynamic Planet and
Geologic Mapping.
The Cleveland Tigers won
10th and ninth place citywide
in the Duct Tape Challenge
thanks to students Bishan
Rayamajj, Kenny Lin,
Shafiqur Khan and Pranesh
Ojha. The team constructed
duct vehicles that traveled a
significant distance.
“We tried our best and the
Courtesy of John Bowne High School
fun part of the competition
was getting to know our
teammates, working
with them, and of course,
participating in the Science
Olympiad,” said Dishan
Rayamajhi, a senior in the
Grover Cleveland Science
Olympiad Team.
Krishna Mahabir,
head coach of the Grover
Cleveland Science Olympiad
Team, said the “competition
brings students from diverse
backgrounds, converging
into one common goal of
excellence in STEM.”
Stuyvesant High School
took first place overall,
followed by Staten Island
Tech and Townsend Harris
High School. The top eight
teams will advance to the
New York State Science
Olympiad March 15 and
16 at Lemoyne College in
Syracuse, N.Y.
TIMESLEDGER,20 FEB. 15-21, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
/TIMESLEDGER.COM
