On January 17, 2015, The Hockaday School successfully hosted its inaugural Hockaday DFW Brain Bee with 14 competitors from three local area schools. It marked Hockaday as the third official regional Brain Bee competition site in Texas, in addition to Baylor Medical School in Houston and UT San Antonio Health Center. After an intense and exciting two hours and three rounds of competition, Hockaday student Christine Ji won first place and will advance to the national competition.
The Brain Bee is a live question-and-answer competition that tests the neuroscience knowledge of high school students. It helps motivate our youth to learn about the brain, capture their imagination, and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical brain research. Every year, more than 50 local Brain Bees are held throughout the U.S. in a search for the “best brain.” The winner of each national bee will compete in the International Brain Bee. This competition has been so well received that it has expanded to more than 34 countries.
The Hockaday DFW Brain Bee was made possible by Neuroscientist and Hockaday science teacher Dr. Katie Croft, Hockaday Neuroscience club president Heather Xiao, officers Christina Chavez and Suzette Kane, and the student-led Neuroscience Club. “To host the Brain Bee has been my dream since I came to Hockaday — with the help of the Neuroscience Club, my dream finally came true!” said Dr. Katie Croft. After Dr. Croft was approved as a local Coordinator for the DFW Brain Bee, The Hockaday Neuroscience Club went into action planning and organizing for this event. They obtained school approval to host the event, decided the competition date, promoted it, and created 3D-printed medals and brain. Dr. Croft invited neuroscientist Dr. Jaya Trivedi from UT Southwestern to be the judge, acquired the list of questions from the Society for Neuroscience, and compiled the rules and questions. The team worked so well together to make it all happen.