NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology from Alexandria beat out Princess Anne High School of Virginia Beach, 76-26, in the final round Saturday to win the Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl held at Jefferson Lab.
Princess Anne finished in second at the end of the intense, day-long academic competition, while Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School, also from Virginia Beach, finished third. Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, took fourth place.
The TJHSST team, coached by Sharon Webb, won an expense-paid trip to the U.S. Department of Energy Science Bowl Nationals to be held near Washington, D.C., April 30 to May 5. The team also took home a $750 check for its school, the regional banner that the team will carry to nationals, a team trophy and individual medals.
The Princess Anne team, coached by Mary Jane Meyer and Clare Kerr, received a $500 check for its school and a team trophy. The Bishop Sullivan team, coached by William Dunn and Carol Stapanowich, earned a $300 check for its school and a team trophy. And the Charlottesville team, coached by Matt Shields, took home the fourth-place team trophy.
Twenty-one teams, representing high schools from across the commonwealth competed in this year's academic competition.
The National Science Bowl tournament – sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy since 1991 - is an annual competition among teams of students. The teams face off in an intense question-and-answer format where contestants are quizzed on their knowledge in all science disciplines, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, general science, mathematics and physics. The day is broken into two rounds: morning round-robin matches, followed by double-elimination matches in the afternoon. A match is two eight-minute halves with a two-minute break.
Teams that didn't advance to the afternoon round were invited to compete in a design and engineering challenge dubbed the Stay All Day Contest. Teams were presented with three very different activities where they had to analyze problems, develop working prototypes with specific materials and make projections based on a model's performance. The team with the best combined results for the activities was Robert E. Lee High School from Springfield and coached by Gregory Matthes and Rick Priest.
"These events champion an interest in science, math and engineering among our nation's youth," notes Jan Tyler, Jefferson Lab's Science Education manager.
"Encouraging and nurturing interest in and knowledge of science, math and technology will help ensure America's strong competitive edge for decades to come," Tyler adds.
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The Bishop Sullivan team from Virginia Beach poses with its third-place trophy. Pictured is (back row, left to right) Nathanial Taylor, Michael Stolz, Jack Hall and Coach William Dunn, and (front, l. to r.) Coach Carol Stapanowich, Mary Chang and Christine Chesley. Photo: Steve Gagnon
The Charlottesville High School team poses fourth-place trophy. Pictured is (left to right) Samuel Bailey, Lizzie Hylton, Coach Matt Shields and Jared Deane. Photo: Steve Gagnon
Winning the Stay All Day design and engineering contest was the team from Robert E. Lee High School from Springfield. Pictured is (back row, left to right) Sean Brewer, Jacob Boswell, David Brehm and (front, l. to r.) Coach Rick Priest, Maria Handley, Adil Kadir and Coach Gregory Matthes. Photo: Steve Gagnon
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Virginia high schools that competed in the Feb. 7 event include (in alphabetical order): - To learn more about DOE's National Science Bowl competition, visit - Check out the types of questions students will answer at Jefferson Lab will host the Virginia Regional Middle School Science Bowl on, March 7. |
