Thomas Jefferson High School wins National Science Bowl
|
After an intense nine-division round robin competition and an 18-team double elimination tournament, the student team from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va, defended its 2002 title and took top honors in the Department of Energy (DOE) 2003 National Science Bowl®. The two-day competition was held May 4-5 at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Md.
A total of 66 high school teams from 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands participated in the 13th annual national event. The participating teams were the winners of regional science bowl tournaments held earlier this year at DOE sites, other Federal agencies, and educational institutions. More than 13,000 students from 1,800 schools participated in the regional competitions, and more than 5,000 volunteers served as officials and provided assistance.
"The Department of Energy has a keen interest in encouraging America's youth to study science and pursue careers in the sciences because our national laboratories conduct some of the most sophisticated research and development work in the world. I congratulate everyone who participated in this year's National Science Bowl," DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham said.
The winning team was sponsored by DOE's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, in Newport News, Va. In addition to receiving the first-place trophy, the team will attend the two-week International Science School at the University of Sydney, Australia.
In second place was the Centerville High School team from Ohio, sponsored by DOE's Miamisburg Environmental Management Project. The team will attend the two-week International Youth Science Forum in London, England. The A&M Consolidated High School team from College Station, Texas, finished in third and will conduct environmental research for a week in South Carolina. Placing fourth was Taylor Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh, Pa., sponsored by DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory - Pittsburgh. The fifth place winner was Cincinnati Country Day School from Ohio, sponsored by DOE's Fernald Environmental Management Project.
The Civility Award winner was Lexington High School from Massachusetts, sponsored by the University of Southern Maine. They will spend a week at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colo.
Texas Instruments provided a TI-83 silver edition calculator to each member of the top five teams and the Computer Based Laboratory II to the top three schools. Each member of the Civility Award winning team received Personal Data Assistants from IBM. The top 18 teams received $1,000 for their schools' science departments.
The DOE Office of Science administers the National Science Bowl for the Department. Cosponsors of this year's competition were Bechtel, General Motors, IBM, and Texas Instruments.