L.A. Beats O.C. in Science Final
Memo to those struggling to solve California’s energy crisis: Your saviors may be in high school. On Monday, California schools dominated the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl, with North Hollywood High snatching first place.
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham awarded the championship team a trophy and a trip to London--but, unfortunately, no megawatts.
In the 11th annual math and science bowl, second place went to the team from Fullerton’s Troy High School, which perennially takes a top spot in the annual competition. Fremont’s Mission San Jose High finished third, followed by a team from Cincinnati and Mira Loma High in Sacramento. The finals were held in Chevy Chase, Md., outside Washington.
The Troy High team is composed of seniors Michael Chen, Tejas Patel, Ziyad Jabaji and Akash Kansagra, and sophomore Christopher Wen. The coach is Kurt Wahl.
“We have some real top scholars here in California.” said Darlene Battle, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, one competition organizer. “At this rate, with them in leadership, we may not run into problems like we’ve run into this summer.”
The science bowl is modeled after the “General Electric College Bowl” radio and TV quiz show from the 1950s to 1970s. Teams of four (with an alternate standing by) answer questions about astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, Earth science, physics, math and advances in technology.
Teams could be asked to name Nobel Prize winners, place Tyrannosaurus rex in geologic history or calculate the speed of a rolling ball.
L.A. teams, all from the Los Angeles Unified School District, have now won the Department of Energy’s national title four times in the last seven years.
On Monday, North Hollywood and Troy were the last teams standing in the two-day double-elimination tournament, but because they each had a win over the other, a third match had to break the tie. In that final game, North Hollywood trounced Troy, 192-56.
“It can be at times a mind game, and when you’re confronted with a national competition like that, it can be quite stressful,” said North Hollywood team member Daniel Bersohn, a senior.
In all, about 300 high school students on 61 teams from 40 states competed in the championship contest. Roughly 11,000 students from 1,800 high schools participated in regional competitions leading up to the national tournament.
“It’s an awesome thing,” North Hollywood’s first-year coach, Len Soloff, said after the awards were handed out Monday.
He praised Bersohn, seniors Jeanne Shen and Jeff Zira, who is the team’s captain, and juniors Julia Hu and David Lee. The students have been practicing since October.
“Two weeks in London--who can argue with that?” Bersohn said. The school, and the other 17 top finishers, also won $1,000.
