Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, won top honors at the 2018 Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl held at Jefferson Lab on Feb. 3. Pictured left to right are team members Wenbo Wu, Aditya Sarkar, Franklyn Wang, Kaien Yang, and Vaibhav Sharma and Coach Sharon Webb.
Charlottesville, Langley, and Maggie Walker High Schools Place at Annual Competition
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – More than a dozen teams converged on Jefferson Lab bright and early on Feb. 3 for the Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl. At the end of an intense day of academic competition, the team from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, took home top honors.
To kick off the event, Lab Director Stuart Henderson welcomed the students, attending family members and team coaches. He briefly explained to them how Jefferson Lab’s electron accelerator works and about the type of research carried out at the lab and why it is important for helping humankind to understand the universe.
He spoke about the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory system and the variety of research and career opportunities at Jefferson Lab and other national labs. “It is a great place to build a career,” he commented. “Researchers at these labs study the largest and the smallest things in our universe, what makes up our universe and how the universe works at the most basic levels.”
He applauded the students’ interest and enthusiasm in preparing for the science bowl, and urged them to extend their enthusiasm and interest beyond this academic competition. He encouraged them to look into and consider applying for DOE Science Undergraduate Laboratory internships (SULI) and recounted that such an internship had been pivotal to his career.
In the double-elimination style tournament, the last match of the day pitted Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, (with one loss) against Thomas Jefferson High School (no losses). Question topics ranged from energy, biology, and Earth and space sciences to math, physics and chemistry. Charlottesville fell to Thomas Jefferson with a final score of 36 to 124.
The Thomas Jefferson team, coached by Sharon Webb, took home a $750 check for its school, a team trophy, individual medals and the regional banner that the team will carry when it competes in the National Science Bowl® (NSB) finals in Washington, D.C., April 26-30.
For finishing in second place, the Charlottesville team, coached by Matt Shields, took home a $500 check for its school and a team trophy.
Ending the day, respectively, in third and fourth were the teams from Langley High School, McLean, and Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, Richmond. The Langley team, coached by Leah Puhlick, took home a $300 check for its school and a team trophy; and the Maggie Walker team, coached by Tom Boyle, took home a team trophy. This was the first time that Maggie Walker High School had competed in a Science Bowl tournament.
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| Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, finished in second place at the 2018 Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl held at Jefferson Lab on Feb. 3. Pictured left to right are team members Ben Nachbar, Stephen Newman, Clara Stelow, and Jonah Weissman and Coach Matt Shields. | Langley High School, McLean, finished in third place at the 2018 Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl held at Jefferson Lab on Feb. 3. Pictured left to right is Coach Leah Puhlick and team members Daniel Mousavi, Dan Ni, Brandon Ou, and Belinda Xi. | Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, Richmond, finished fourth at the 2018 Virginia Regional High School Science Bowl held at Jefferson Lab on Feb. 3. Pictured left to right is Coach Tom Boyle and team members Perisa Ashar, Anuj Kotak, Dennis Plotnikov, and Ajay Srinivasan. |
At the awards presentation, Christine Wheeler, Jefferson Lab's Science Bowl coordinator, congratulated the students and their coaches. She acknowledged their hard work and tenacity in preparing for the competition. She also thanked Jefferson Lab management for its support in hosting the event and the more than three dozen volunteers – lab staff, their family members, and friends of the Science Bowl program – who helped conduct the matches and run the event.
The Department of Energy created the National Science Bowl® in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. The National Science Bowl® is one of the nation's largest science competitions. DOE's Office of Science manages the program and sponsors the NSB finals.
Jefferson Lab will host the Virginia Regional Middle School Science Bowl on March 3.
Contact: Deb Magaldi, Jefferson Lab Communications Office, 757-269-5102, magaldi@jlab.org