A battle of the brains at Buck school

Students at the William L. Buck School had their wits challenged last week during an assembly program featuring mental and physical competitions.

The Brain Challenge came to the District 24 school on Oct. 5 and every child had a chance to participate. Students were split into the red and blue teams, and got to cheer on their classmates in any given challenge.

Some of the physical games included a hula hoop competition, tug-of-war and dance competition. To test their mental abilities, students had to spell words, create numbers and answer questions on a variety of topics in a mock quiz show. There was also an intense game of Simon Says that really challenged their listening skills.

“I like that I was able to do one of my favorite activities,” said Jacob Ebert, who had a one-on-one Simon Says competition with the host. However, after a tough battle in which he passed test after test, Jacob flinched when the host told him to wait, without saying the two magic words.

Jacob said he has been playing Simon Says for a long time and despite getting tricked at the end, he had a lot of fun.

Sixth-grader Lenny Greif won a hula hoop contest. The key to his success was pretending that no one else was there. “I didn’t look at the audience,” he said. “I was just looking at the wall.”

Morgan Dalal, a fifth-grader, also participated in the hula hoop contest but her moment to shine was in one of the mock quiz shows. When the host asked who was the nation’s 16th president, Morgan knew it was Abraham Lincoln. And Nicholas Hernandez knew that same answer when asked who is on the penny.

Fifth-grader Sophia Sheinin participated in the championship round of the quiz competitions. She got two answers correct, knowing that the fastest animal is the cheetah, and that the Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy. “I thought it was basically common knowledge,” she said of the questions that were asked.

The program was sponsored by the school PTA. Jennifer Lee, chairwoman of the Cultural Arts Committee, said the Brain Challenge was featured last year at a family fun night. The attendance was a little low, she said, so it was decided to have the program during the day when every student could participate.

“I thought all the kids would enjoy it,” she said, “and I thought it would be a great way to start the school year because it has a lot of energy.”

Lee said that her favorite moment happened during the first assembly for the younger students. She said several children were asked their mother’s first name and many said, “Mommy.”

Principal Mark Onorato liked that the program combined math, English, social studies, science, physical education and more. “It gets the kids enthusiastic about learning,” he said.

Even some of the teachers tried their hand at the quiz competition. But Onorato said his favorite part was hearing the students’ answers, saying he was impressed with their knowledge. “The amount of what they’ve learned wasn’t surprising,” he said. “They’re working really hard here at the Buck school.”