Farmingdale High School Competing in 'The Challenge'

is one of 192 tri-state area schools competing to be champion of “The Challenge," a quiz show on MSG Varsity.

The show is celebrating its 15th anniversary this season of "showcasing the best and brightest high school students," testing teams on their knowledge of history, arts and literature, current events, math, and science in front of a live studio audience. In a first round match-up, Farmingdale High School will take on Freeport High School at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 (Cablevision Channel 14).  

The Farmingdale team is made up of Duncan McCloskey, Robert Brienza, Alexander Melton (Captain), Christopher Brandimarte and Nakul Gupta (Alternate). The academic advisors are Peter Macchia, Jennifer Theo and Celia Blumm.

“We’re proud to celebrate academics on MSG Varsity through ‘The Challenge’ and to provide these extremely bright students a platform to showcase their talents with their communities,” said Theresa Chillianis, MSG Varsity’s general manager.

Jared Cotter, host of “MSG Varsity’s Talent Show” and a former semi-finalist from American Idol, is back for his third season as host of “The Challenge."

“Each season I am blown away by the students’ intelligence and their wide array of knowledge in so many diverse categories,” said Jared Cotter. 

This season, Long Island will be represented by 32 high schools from Nassau County and 32 high schools from Suffolk County. Participating schools advance through a series of elimination rounds, with one school in each region being crowned regional champion and winning $2,500 for their school. The winning teams from each region go on to “The Challenge” Championship where they square off in a Tri-State Showdown. The school awarded the title of Tri-State Champion will receive $10,000 in prize money and each student participating in the final “Challenge” Championship game will receive $500.