Following their first-round victory in The Long Island Challenge, the academic team from Massapequa High School is moving on to the Nassau County quarterfinal round, where their familiarity with global events, local history, popular culture, art, literature, math and science will be fully tested.

Massapequa High School challenges Freeport High School during this second-round competition, shown exclusively on News 12 Long Island at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. March 27, and again April 2, at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Massapequa High School is one of only eight Nassau County schools to make it this far in the 2004-2005 season of The Long Island Challenge. The academic quiz show, moderated by popular News 12 Anchor Scott Feldman, challenges the four-member teams with increasingly difficult questions during the half-hour competition. Now in its eighth year, the tournament will conclude after a series of elimination rounds with a televised showdown between the Nassau and Suffolk champions June 12, 2005.

Representing Massapequa High School will be team captain Jordan Wahba, a senior; juniors Paul Park and Nicholas DeVito; senior Nicholas Moy; and team alternate William Giannone, a senior. The team's academic advisor is Pamela Hudson.

Continuing each week through June 2005, the show shines the spotlight on the students' academic skills as they compete for approximately $20,000 in prizes.

The Long Island Challenge features multiple choice questions; a lightning round, where teams try to correctly answer 10 questions in 60 seconds; and a head-to-head drill, where one contestant from each team competes in an audio/visual drill. In the final minutes of the show, teams can answer questions freely, but risk losing 10 points for any incorrect answers.

Through a series of elimination rounds, schools progress through the competition, culminating with the best team from Nassau County facing off against the best team from Suffolk County for the Long Island Championship.

For more information on The Long Island Challenge, including standings, statistics and short contestant bios, log onto www. Powertolearn.com as the tournament progresses.