Division Avenue Science Olympiad Team Makes School History

LEVITTOWN, NY — The Division Avenue High School Science Olympiad team earned its best score ever with 97 points at the Nassau East Regional, earning them third place and their 14th consecutive trip to the State Finals.

Led by President Matthew Chiu, the Science Olympiad team earned medals in 20 out of 23 events, including first place by Gary Nepravishta and Grace Lim in Bridge, Chris Powers and Simar Parmar in Gravity Vehicle, and Nabiha Khan and Izma Akbar in Ping Pong Parachute. All 15 students on the team earned a medal in at least one event, a first for the Division team.

“Science Olympiad is a lot more than a competition, it’s a lot of team building and camaraderie,” Chiu said. “It’s definitely a lot of work, but it really pays off in the end.”

“I used to play basketball, but it’s as if this is my winter sport now,” said Parmar. “We stay late every day to work on events — we’re always together as a team.”

Leading up to the Nassau East Regional Tournament, the students prepared by competing in the Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, Cornell University and Princeton University Satellite Tournaments.

The team will travel to Le Moyne College in Syracuse on March 18 to compete against 60 teams to determine the Top 10 in New York State for each event and a chance to represent New York at the National Tournament.