Jonaire Francis
Special to In Motion
With questions ranging from math, humanities and the social and natural sciences, the contest is a great way for colleges and students to gain recognition for their academic excellence and achievement. The Brain Bowl, sponsored by the Florida College Systems Activities Association, will conduct regional competitions and in the spring that will determine who competes at the state level.
At Daytona State the Brain Bowl team, or “Falcon Force,” meets every Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Building 130, room 154.
Held at a different college every year, as determined by a rotating pool of potential hosts, last year’s Brain Bowl was at Florida Gateway College in Lake City. Next year’s site is yet to be determined.
Steven Pruitt, who is a Student Activities Specialist and News4U coordinator, is a behind-the-scenes facilitator for the event and a co-coach with Rivera, STEM Community Scholars Coordinator.
Daytona State College has not competed in over 20 years. A few semesters back, when Assistant Dean of Student Activities, Bruce Cook, recognized an opportunity for DSC to be recognized for its academic skills, he charged Pruitt with the task of organizing the College’s participation. This semester, for the first time in more than two decade, it is assembling a team.
“I have no idea, I guess no one took an interest it,” Pruitt said of the lack of participation. “When I saw the Brain Bowl packet last spring, I thought, ‘Oh wow, what is this?’ As I got it going, Dr. Eaton
called and said she had a Brain Bowl packet and would like to see a Brain Bowl team get going.”
Christian Rivera also approached the mission of assembling a team by scouting close to home. Many of the current members of Falcon Force are also members of the STEM Scholar program. Rivera said that when he approached his prospects they were at the very worst, a little hesitant.
“It’s taken almost two semesters to get a team together, but it’s finally coming along and hopefully, we can get in the running and take out Chipola College, which has won six years in a row,” said Pruitt.
Although they have a team, the more the merrier, he added. “We definitely need science and math people because we have lots of humanities people. Calling all nerds!”
Rivera’s description of his team also breaks the norm of what observers might expect from a group gleaned from a STEM program. They’re a well-rounded group of students who, while focusing on the big
four of STEM, also express great interest in history and psychoanalysis. Falcon Force also has a female to male ration of 3:1. Rivera is confident that his team is strong enough to compete respectably.
From the enthusiasm shared by Rivera, Pruitt and Cook, the greatest boon that could come from DSC’s participation in this competition is not just the chance at victory, but the celebration of students in the process. DSC is known for its performance and excellence, but the sentiment these staff members share is that its academically inclined students are capable of a superior level of performance. They believe, and others do too, that it is something to be encouraged and praised.
Rivera also issues a personal invitation to any staff and students who have any interest in supporting the team, either through intellectual or other donations.
Anyone interested in participating may attend or call Pruitt or Rivera at exts. 3366 and 3711, respectively.