Lincoln East team competes in National Science Bowl

Nixon Hanna has spent hundreds of hours practicing, studying and competing at Science Bowl over the past five years, and it’s all finally paying off.

The Lincoln East senior has been on the Science Bowl team since he was in eighth grade at Lux Middle School, leading the team to victory at the regional tournament in February and qualifying for the national tournament. .

“I’ve been going to the Science Bowl for years now. I’ve worked hard for it and the team has worked just as hard,” he said. “I’m glad it paid off.”

Hanna and his team first qualified for the 2020 National Science Bowl, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in Washington, D.C., but due to COVID-19. The influence ruined my chance to participate in the tournament. Now they are finally ready to get a chance to show off their skills at the next level.

The team will head to Washington, D.C. at the end of April to compete against other regional winning teams for a chance to win prize money. The top two teams will win $5,000 for their school’s math and science departments. The other schools in the top 16 will receive $1,000.

Science Bowl quizzes students with science-based questions (of increasing difficulty) in a fast-paced environment, so students not only know the answers to the questions, but can answer them as quickly as possible. is needed. .

According to Hanna, it takes a lot of preparation and even teamwork. Typically, each team member chooses an area of ​​expertise to focus on, such as mathematics, physics, or chemistry, to maximize the group’s knowledge.

“We’re being asked questions down to what sophomores and juniors (in college) are doing in their majors. You can’t take six different subjects up to the college level,” he said. “You have to work well as a team and understand what people want to do. I think we did a good job with that.”

That’s why Hanna said the team is feeling pretty confident heading into regionals in mid-February, even though they’re down by one team member. They spent a lot of time working together and practicing sample questions, forming a strong bond in the process.

They felt that nothing could stop them from achieving their goals.

“This year’s team was unusually calm. I think last year we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we didn’t do well. But I think this year we all just came in wanting to have fun,” he said. Told. “Everyone was confident, cooperative, and worked really well together. It was a fun experience.”

For Hannah, qualifying for the national tournament was the best thing that could have happened. It was the perfect way to end his Science Bowl career, he said.

“Winning and getting the trip is a good way to end it,” he said.

But for Josie Gilligan, the team’s coach and a chemistry and physics teacher at East, the team’s win wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Going into halftime of the championship match, she felt their lead over Elkhorn South was probably large enough to win it all.

“Frankly, there was a time when it was very clear that we were going to win,” she said. “It was just amazing.”

Moore Middle School’s team also qualified for the national tournament last month.

While in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln East team plans to work hard during the competition, while also taking time to enjoy the nation’s capital by visiting several Smithsonian museums, particularly the National Air and Space Museum.

Regardless of how the team performed at the national tournament, Gilligan is proud of the team’s appearance. It’s something they’ve all dreamed of and talked about for years.

“I’m really excited for them,” she said. “It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”