San Fernando Valley : Van Nuys High to Compete in National Science Bowl

Van Nuys High School appears to be the favorite at Saturday’s regional competition of the National Science Bowl--an eight-hour brain boggler of computer science, physics, biology, earth science, chemistry, space travel, robotics and mathematics to be held at the Department of Water and Power’s headquarters downtown.

The Van Nuys team won the Los Angeles-area regionals last year and went on to win the national championship. Last year’s team captain, Scott Schneider, a 17-year-old who scored a flawless 1,600 on his Scholastic Assessment Test last fall, returns this year to lead the five-member team as it does battle with 31 high school teams.

“When you have the national champion returning, you would have to say Van Nuys is the team to beat,” said Walter Zeisl, a DWP Science Bowl volunteer. “They would be the favorite.”

If Van Nuys were to repeat in the regionals and then in the nationals, it would be a first in the National Science Bowl’s six-year history. But a Van Nuys victory is by no means assured.

The Venice High School squad--which came in second in last year’s regionals and won the regional competition the previous two years--hopes to recapture the title.

The competition, which is open to the public, runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at DWP headquarters, 111 N. Hope St. in Los Angeles.