Highland Park High School’s science team aims to continue building its kinetic energy this year after capturing the 2026 state title.
Senior Adrian Gu, who placed third overall in Science at the 5A UIL State Championship, and junior Samarjeet Singh will serve as this year’s team captains.
They take over leadership following the graduation of last year’s captains, Henry Zhu and Bradley Liang, who were valedictorian and salutatorian of the HPHS class of 2026.
Gu and Singh said their interest in math and science started in middle school. Both have been involved with the science team at the high school since they were freshmen.
During his time on the team, Singh said he’s enjoyed learning more about physics and chemistry. Team meetings have been opportunities to step out of his comfort zone and focus on exploring the scientific topics that interest him most.
“Before sophomore year, as a freshman, we take biology as part of the course curriculum, so I was very inexperienced in chemistry and physics,” he said, “and so it was really fun for me to learn chemistry and physics while I wasn’t enrolled in any courses.”
Gu said he has enjoyed meeting new people who share his interest in science through being a team member and taking part in UIL competitions.
“One thing I’ve definitely learned is the value of working hard and learning the skills to sit down and study one topic for four to five hours,” Singh said. “I know that now I can do that and I can apply that for my future years in college and med school, hopefully.”
The captains said they’re looking forward to building a new team together, helping teach underclassmen, and watching team members grow in their knowledge of science.
“It’s a new team, it’s a new year,” Singh added. “In my freshman and sophomore years, underclassmen years, I was the one really learning everything. And now in my upperclassmen years as a junior and senior, I’m going to be the one teaching the subjects to the underclassmen who come in.”
They will be coached by biology teacher Jennifer Giannou-Moore, who took over leadership of the science team in the 2025-2026 school year.
As coach, Giannou-Moore intends to continue growing the connection between the high school and middle school science teams.
“I want to keep the momentum going,” she said.
Giannou-Moore said she’s proud of how Singh and Gu have taken to their new leadership roles. The secret to a winning performance in competitions, Gu said, isn’t rocket science — it comes down to hard work.
“It’s a lot of repetition,” he remarked, “and doing practice problems over different topics in biology, chemistry, and physics.”
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