On the morning of Friday, April 26, the Science Bee and History Bowl national teams were ready to conquer the competition in Pentagon City, Virginia. It was time to show the other teams what the Tenafly Tigers could do in a competition held once a year.  

Starting with the History Bowl, the group has made major improvements from the years before. The History Bowl “is an academic competition where you would compete for points by answering the questions given correctly, especially in history,” said Colin Bae (’25), a long-time club member. “It is done by having a team of four who answer the questions by buzzing in at the right time. The group with the most points at the end wins and moves on.” The Captain of the History Bowl Team, Aidan Raghu (’25), explained that their team improved a lot compared to last year. “We started in the normal bracket but went down to the lower bracket,” Raghu said. “However, in the lower bracket, we ended strong with a positive record. Overall, we finished with four wins and six losses, which is much better than last year.” This team also included Daniel Israeli-Miller (’25), Bae (’25), and Pranav Suresh (’25). Last year, this team placed 77th place in the Junior Varsity History Bowl, but this year they went up to 59th place in the country for the more difficult group of Varsity History Bowl. The competitors hope to do better and take a podium position in their senior year.

The Science Bee team members also performed their best in this competition. The largest difference from History Bowl, other than it being a science competition, is that an individual wins rather than a team. This section includes all branches of science, the main ones being biology, chemistry, and physics. Joe Kuwama excelled in the competition, placing fourth in the Varsity National Chemistry Exam, which was a strong start for the team. Suresh placed sixth, Shawn Lee (’25) came in ninth, and Raghu came in twelfth for the Varsity National Biology Exam out of fifty individuals. Israeli-Miller did exceptionally well in the Varsity National Science Bee by coming in fourteenth place overall in the whole country. Seiichiro Takayama’s participation was instrumental in shaping the team’s collective victory by scoring two points in the Science Bee and hopes to aim higher for the following year. 

There was a bond formed between the teams that made the whole competition more enjoyable. Just being able to get to nationals is an amazing feat of its own. “It was really exciting to be part of this competition and spend time with my friends,” Raghu said. “We came into the competition last year filled with stress but this year it felt…relaxed, especially since it felt more like a break from our rigorous junior year of high school.” After the competition they enjoyed themselves by going to drink Boba and playing basketball. The competition sparked not just victories but also memories to remember in their high school journey. 

Both the Tenafly History Bowl and Science Bee teams came back with victories and an overall good performance. Their excitement for next year is already making them hungry for the challenges and triumphs that the 2025 National competition will bring.