Garden City Crowns New Quiz Bowl Champs

Do you know what the acronym “ZIP” stands for in Zip code? Or, how about the designation for the level of the brightness of a star? Or, what was the name of the pig that represented Lenin and expounded on Marist theory in George Orwell’s Animal Farm?

From a field of 24 high school teams, Mr. James Dunleavy’s team answered the most correct answers to 150 questions similar to the ones above earning them Garden City High School’s 2013 Quiz Bowl championship title.

The team competed against two other teams that made it to the final round Feb. 21 - Team Esposito (Zach Naglieri, Jon Kramer and Mike Padala with science teacher Domenick Esposito) and Team Skolnick (Pat Dolan, Steve Menelly, Justin Gong with English teacher Samara Skolnick).

Begun in 1996 by then social studies department chair Doug Sheer, the competition tests general knowledge of a team of three students and a high school teacher of the team’s choosing. Teams are timed during the rounds and have opportunities to gain points with bonus questions and a nine-point turnaround wager.

Social studies teacher Kevin O’Hagan “writes the questions, organizes and oversees the entire Quiz Bowl operation at the high school,” explained English teacher Nancy Fleming. “Thanks to his enthusiasm and diligence, a record number of teams participated this year.”