Students Excel 'Academically Speaking'

Students at John H. Walker Middle School Trivia Team and Nutley's Elementary School Trivia team finished first and second, respectively in in the "Academically Speaking" trivia competition.

The Essex County Steering Committee sponsors this annual event, open to all school districts in the county, according to Superintendent of Schools Russell Lazovick.

The Middle School Team winners are: William Stavriotis, Alex DeMartino, Declan Intindola, Frank Geltrude, Jake Ifversen, Silvan Sooksatan. The four eighth grade students who competed for the final time are: Dante Intindola, David Dizdari, Sebastian Ruiz and Hamid Hoshmand.

The winners for the Nutley Elementary Team are: Jack Christman, Vincent Elopre, Carrie Zhang, and Sean Fitzpatrick.

The middle school team, coached by Christina Stendardi and Jolinda Griwert, faced three rounds of competition, defeating teams from Livingston, Millburn and Cedar Grove, according to Stendardi. The team earned a bye in the semi-finals because of their record-breaking score of 1,070 points in the quarterfinal round, she said.

The students were honored at the June 11 Board of Education meeting for the competion held May 10.

Stendari, speaking June 11 for Griwert and Marcia Napolitano, who coached the second place elementary school trivia team, said, "The students were not only bright and quick, but also a truly nice group of people."

In an interview, Lazovick said the trivia teams are part of a larger effort by the district. 

"We want to get our students involved in as many authentic situations as possible," Lazovick said. "We want them to challenge themselves and be challenged beyond the classroom. The advisors go above and beyond and we are proud of our students."