STAR-BULLETIN / JANUARY 2002 Maui High School students (from left) Christian Ling, Jonathan Nguyen, Matthew Jachowski, Christopher Ling and Nicholas Jachowski will represent Hawaii at the National Science Bowl in May. They are the first team from Maui to go to the competition.

Maui High team
claims State
Science Bowl title

The win is the first for a Maui
school in the contest's 9-year history

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By Gary Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

KAHULUI >> Retired chemistry teacher Edwin Ginoza says he has coached a lot of bright students for the State Science Bowl, but this year's Maui High School team had the right temperament for winning first place in the competition.

"The kids are unafraid of hitting the buzzer, taking chances and making a mistake," he said.

The public high school team from the Valley Isle will represent Hawaii at the National Science Bowl on May 3-6 in Washington, D.C.

It is the first win for a Maui school in the annual competition, which began about nine years ago.

Maui High had to defeat a number of public and private schools along the way, including Kamehameha Schools and Punahou School.

Although relatively young, with three freshmen, a junior and a senior, team members have had experience in academic competitions.

Two have competed nationally. Junior Matthew Jachowski, 16, won the State Spelling Bee in 1999 and competed at the National Spelling Bee.

His freshman brother Nicholas, 15, was on the U.S. team that took first place in the International Geography Olympiad in Vancouver last year. Nicholas also placed second as an individual in the National Geographic Bee and was third in the State Spelling Bee in 2001.

Christopher Ling, 17, a senior, has represented Maui High at the state Science Bowl three times and represented Maui in the State Spelling Bee in 1998. Ling's brother Christian and his friend Jonathan Nguyen, both freshmen, have placed in the top 10 in the Math Counts competition in the Maui district.

The team's base of knowledge extends beyond the normal high school curriculum.

Matthew Jachowski and Christopher Ling are taking a number of college-level courses under an advanced-placement program.

Team members said they developed a good foundation for the sciences by participating in the Math Counts competition in middle school and staying after classes sometimes twice a week to master mathematics skills under the supervision of volunteer teachers.

They said Ginoza, a State Teacher of the Year in 1988 and a recipient of Disney's American Teacher Award, has helped them tremendously in their preparation, spending hours a week drilling them with questions and even coaching them during Christmas vacation.

"Mr. Ginoza was so supportive," Matthew Jachowski said. "We couldn't have done it without him."