By Jenny Kim
These brainiacs have been busting to win.
The Hershey High School’s Brain Buster club has been preparing for their upcoming competitions with multiple practices and intense learning. With the use of their brains the team has become like a family, competing against other schools to advance to the championships. Along with monetary rewards of up to $7,000, the club develops certain skills that can help with school’s stressful environment.
Brain Buster club is exactly as it seems: a club designated to work or “bust” the brain. Colette Silvestri, co-advisor, practices with the students every Wednesday. For one or two hours, they engage in multiple memorization exercises about topics such as pop culture, literature, current events, and other basic trivia. The club uses buzzers to also test reaction time and sharpness.
“This club brings in the best, brightest, and quickest students and pushes them to the limit,” said David Anderson, co-advisor for Brain Busters.
For actual competitions, the club travels to the WGAL studio in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to compete against other schools. At the studio, the team captains from each team answer multiple questions and then move on to lightning and one on one rounds. The Hershey team must win five or six more competitions in order to get to the championships.
Omer Qureshi, sophomore Brain Buster competitor, feels as if being on Brain Busters is a whole lot of work but also also a whole lot of fun. As a close knit team of six, the club exchanges jokes and laughs while quickly trying to answer the next trivia question. Silvestri sometimes has to calm down the lively chatter to keep the students on track.
“It’s a very casual and fun environment, but I learn a lot; I would definitely recommend this club,” said Qureshi.
Silvestri suggests the Brain Buster Club for everyone. This suggestion is not only because of the lively environment and monetary awards, but because of the neurological benefits. Learning the terms and being able to answer the questions quickly provides good memorization skills, text comprehension, and quickness which are crucial skills for standardized tests.
The Hershey Brain Busters is an intense, cognitive, and energetic club designated to make students reach their full potential. The practices, competitions, and friendly environment altogether give a reason why learning can take people to great places.
“This club isn’t fighting to be the best, it’s fighting for the right to learn,” said Silvestri.
