DHS Science and Engineering Team Wins Big at Academic Challenge

The Deerfield High School Science and Engineering Team won the Academic Challenge Regional Tournament held at the College of Lake County earlier this month.

DHS defeated Libertyville and Lake Zurich High Schools to win the championship for the fourth straight year, according to the DHS Facebook page.

The Academic Challenge is a competition sponsored by Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) through the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Students participating in the Academic Challenge compete in only two of the seven areas represented in the challenge. These seven areas are mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering graphics, and English.

Several Deerfield students earned medals in both subject areas:

• Ethan Dlugie, who placed first in engineering graphics and third in mathematics.
• Max Feinberg, who placed third in biology and also in engineering graphics.
• Danny Schwartz, who placed second in physics and third in chemistry.
• Lauren Smith, who placed second in biology and third in English.
• Kevin Wilson, who placed first in physics and second in second in mathematics.

Other team members earning medals were:

• Ricky Bernstein, who placed  second in computer science.
• Ted Culbertson, who placed third in chemistry.
• Michael Malis, who placed first in computer science.
• Amy Yi, who placed second in engineering graphics.

Other team members contributing to the team scores were: Katie Frankel, Marissa Levy and Toby Ma.

Deerfield High School had the highest team scores in biology, computer science, engineering graphics and physics.

Junior Lauren Smith earned the MVP award for Deerfield High School, as her scores contributed most significantly to the overall team results.

DHS now advances to the sectional tournament on March 8 at Vernon Hills High School. The team is coached by Michael Hinton and Martin Esgar, both Advanced Placement Science teachers at Deerfield High School.

Information provided by Deerfield High School