Plainview-Old Bethpage student wins LI Brain Bee
Breanna Huang-Ouyang, center, a junior at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, took first place in the 2019 Long Island Brain Bee. She is joined by JFK junior Kreena Totala, left, and Sachem High School North senior Amy DeLury, right, who placed second and third, respectively. Credit: Hofstra University/Trent Campbell
Breanna Huang-Ouyang, a junior at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, won the 2019 Long Island Brain Bee, and classmate Kreena Totala took second place in the annual competition, which tests knowledge of the brain and nervous system.
It was the third straight year that a student from the high school has taken the top spot in the contest.
Amy DeLury, a senior at Sachem High School North in Lake Ronkonkoma, placed third.
The competition, held at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, included 51 students from 25 high schools across Long Island.
As the victor, Huang-Ouyang will compete in the 2019 USA Brain Bee Championship, scheduled Friday through Sunday at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
"It was pretty unbelievable," Huang-Ouyang said of her first-place finish. "I didn't think it would happen to me."
The brain bee included a multiple-choice exam on brain facts, a laboratory demonstration, and a test to identify anatomical functions and structure in actual human brain specimens. Contestants also participated in a charades-style round in which they identified brain disorders, treatments and diagnostic tools based on skits performed by medical students.
"I was hoping to win in my final year of the contest, but it's a gigantic learning experience," said DeLury, who also was among the top three finishers in 2017 and 2018.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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