Forsythe students once again shine at national Quiz Bowl competition

"I won't be coaching Thinking Cap any more, but the club will roll on," said Coach Dan Ezekiel, who will retire soon. "Go, Vikings!"

Forsythe Middle School’s Thinking Cap teams boasted impressive results in the Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl American Answers competition in April.

Thinking Cap is an academic competition that tests teams’ ability to answer questions quickly and accurately, in all the academic and elective subject areas.Forsythe Thinking Cap is a middle school club open to all Forsythe students.  This season is now complete, but students can join the club next year.

The seventh and eighth grade Thinking Cap Team at Forsythe Middle School placed ninth in the nation.
Forsythe’s seventh and eighth grade Thinking Cap Team  placed ninth in the nation.

Forsythe’s 7th and 8th Grade Thinking Cap Team placed 9th in the nation out of 116 teams.  First place went to Middlesex Middle School in Darien, Connecticut with 1366.  Old rivals Boulan Park Middle School in Troy came in fourth, with 1338.  The Forsythe team answered 88 questions out of 100 correctly on the first try, then got 8 more right on the second try, for a total of 96 percent correct.

Forsythe’s 7th and 8th Grade Thinking Cap Team includes:

7th grade:  Robin Austerberry; Anusheh Chaudry; Andrew Compton; Nathan Hadjiyski; Dominic Hines; Owen McAllister-Lopez; Luke McGinnis; Cynthia Meah; Nadia Naines; Laura O’Brien; Jaeda Olive; Erin Page; Martha Ribant; Ameera Salman; Charlie Solomon; Roman Wing; and Oren Zekic.

8th grade: Ellie Andrew-Vaughn; Alana Brunette; Lindsey Choi; Lara Danan; Laura Edwards; Aaron Gankin; Lisette Gold; Zsofia Hull; Annika Jaglan; Sloane Keating; Lana Kinlaw; Luke Knowles; Olivia McKelvey; Shawn Meah; Jordan Newton; Claire Perry; Gemma Poulsen; Maria Ramon; Anna Rinvelt; Eeshar Sawhney; Sara Soluk; Ruggi Sotto-Ricci; Wrena Sproat; Kethan Thomas; Julia Tsutsui; Oliver Wang and Julie Zhou.

Forsythe’s 6th Grade Thinking Cap Team placed 4th in the nation out of 107 teams.

Screenshot 2016-05-04 16.13.30
Forsythe Thinking Cap 6th graders placed 4th in the national competition.

Forsythe scored 1284 out of 1500 points at the competition.  First place went to Westminster Schools in Atlanta, GA with 1334.  Forsythe’s old rivals Boulan Park Middle School in Troy, Michigan came in 30th, with 1192.  Forsythe answered 89 questions out of 100 correctly on the first try, then got eight more right on the second try, for a total of 97 percent correct.  The top six teams receive trophies and ribbons.

 The sixth grade team included Eve Bryner; Peter Cohn; Brady Dolan; Kyle Foster;  Ella Hall; Daniel John; Gabe Karras; Alice Keeling; Claire Kozma; Vivian Li; Hayley Marchand; Carter Malnaik; Evan McKelvey; Erin McNulty; Shreya Nimmagadda; Molly Page; Ronan Pasquarella;  Jakiya Paul; and Matthew Sept.

Coach Dan Ezekiel  has spent 33 years coaching Thinking Cap and its predecessor, Knowledge Master.  He began coaching academic competitions at his first district in Beloit, Wisconsin.

“My late mentor, John Rose, said academically successful students should get the same prestige as athletically successful students, not more but not less,” said Ezekiel, who retires next month after 29 years with the district. “I  have so enjoyed coaching this amazing competition and interacting with these wonderful students.  I believe that gifted kids are an at-risk population with special needs.  Thinking Cap is a safe place to be smart in middle school and meet others with similar interests.”

“I won’t be coaching Thinking Cap any more, but the club will roll on,” he said. “Go, Vikings!”

He and fellow coach Mike Shaw thanked team parent Mary Edwards for her assistance.

_Jo Mathis/AAPS District News

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