N. Hollywood Team Is Science Bowl’s 2nd Best

In another strong national showing by a Los Angeles high school, North Hollywood High took second place for the second straight year in the National Science Bowl, a fast-paced, game-show-style contest testing scientific and mathematical knowledge.

“It’s still sinking in,” Paul Lakin, a 17-year-old senior, said after the final round Monday. “It’s amazing. I’m really happy about how well we did.”

The five students from North Hollywood’s magnet program for highly gifted students competed against 53 teams from 38 states in the competition sponsored by the Department of Energy.

Teams from Silver Springs, Md., and Monroeville, Pa., placed first and third, respectively, in the two-day contest in Washington, D.C.

North Hollywood won an expense-paid, one-week trip to a Department of Energy national laboratory in June. A spokesman for the contest said North Hollywood students will study waste management and wetland ecosystems, among other topics, along the South Carolina coast.

The Los Angeles Unified School District students, who must score at least 145 on IQ tests to qualify for the program, got to see how they compare with the nation’s smartest high school science students.

“We got to see how much we really know,” said Vinly Eng, 16, a senior. “It’s great that we did so well. . . . The other students were really smart.”

They spent hundreds of hours studying after school, during lunch and on weekends for the contest, which tests their knowledge in biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, astronomy, trigonometry, earth and physical sciences, computer programming and related current events.

“I like science,” said Iris Ahronowitz, a Harvard-bound senior and North Hollywood team captain, who also competed last year. “We needed to relieve stress, but I don’t think we ever got tired of science.”

North Hollywood advanced to the national competition earlier this year after winning the regional Science Bowl sponsored by the Department of Water and Power.

“I’m very proud of them,” said Koh Ikeda, North Hollywood science coach and teacher. “They did great.”

Los Angeles schools have fared well at the science competition in recent years.

Van Nuys High School won the championship in 1995, as did Venice High in 1996 and 1997. Los Angeles schools have also performed strongly in events such as the Academic Decathlon, including last year’s national championship won by El Camino Real.

Other California schools placing in the Science Bowl’s top eight this year included Mira Loma High from Sacramento, Albany High from Albany and Troy High in Fullerton.