Fairfax Supervisors Honor Scholastic Bowl Teams From TJ, McLean High Schools

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recognized members of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and McLean High School Scholastic Bowl teams for finishing first and second, respectively, in the Virginia High School League's 2023 Scholastic Bowl.

In addition to winning its eighth consecutive Scholastic Bowl Championship in February, the Thomas Jefferson team also won the James Blair Bowl IV at William and Mary University, the Centennial Invitational Tournament, and the Johns Hopkins University C++ Tournament and Fall Invitational. The team also was a semifinalist in the It's Academic Tournament and will be a representative at the upcoming High School National Championship Tournament in Atlanta and the National Scholastic Championship in Chicago in June.

TJ's team is made up Tim Johanson, Elliot Lee, Deven Hagen and Andrew Shi.

The team from McLean High School was recognized for finishing second for the second consecutive year at the Virginia High School League's 2023 Scholastic Bowl. The team won both the Liberty District Conference and the Northern Regional Tournament earlier in the year and will also compete in the National Championship tournament in Atlanta.

McLean's team consists of Edward Burros, Noah Chin, Sam Cohen, Andrew Evans, Ryan McKenzie, Carter Pisocky, Angelika Tzioumis and Ethan Zhou.

Chairman Jeff McKay and Supervisors Penny Gross (Mount Vernon) and John Foust (Dranesville) introduced the two resolutions to honor the teams' achievements.

"It really is a pleasure to be able to salute these teams for their outstanding success," Gross said, after the board voted unanimously to adopt both resolutions. "But it also shows that you never stop learning. What you're doing today in the Scholastic Bowl championships, the intellectual curiosity that you have will carry on throughout the rest of your life."

Foust joined Gross in congratulating both of the teams' achievements.

When you're in the midst of it, you're probably not as impressed as we are watching it," he said. "It's unbelievable. The depth of knowledge that you have. I'm just so proud of, particularly, in my case, the McLean High School, which is a pretty regular here in the boardroom with amazing accomplishments. So, I just want to say congratulations and keep up the good work."