Trending
WHEELING - Teams representing four high schools in the Northern Panhandle will compete this Saturday for a spot at the National Science Bowl this spring.
Wheeling Park and Wheeling Central Catholic high schools in Ohio County, John Marshall High School in Marshall County, and Oak Glen High School in Hancock County will send students to state Science Bowl competition. That tournament will take place Saturday at the Mountainlair at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
Winners of the state tournament will compete in the National Finals of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science's National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C. set for April 25-29. All of their expenses will be paid for the stay.
This is the 34th year the DOE Office of Science has organized the competition.
The top two middle and high school teams in the national competition will win $5,000 for their schools' math and science departments. Other schools placing in the top 16 in the National Finals will win $1,000 for their schools' science departments.
The competition is described as a fast-paced, question-and-answer format. Each team is composed of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. The competition tests the students on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, energy, and math.
The Department of Energy Office of Science manages the National Science Bowl and sponsors the finals competition.
For students at John Marshall High School, this is their first time competing in a state science competition. But team members Alexis Cumberlidge, a senior, and Lila Roman, a sophomore, are no strangers to top academic competitions.
"I've not really participated in the (state) science bowl, but I have participated in the West Virginia History Bowl,"she said. "That's the closest I've ever come to participating in something like this."
She and Cumberledge both competed on past history bowl teams that won state championships, and they both achieved individual accolades for their efforts.
"It is exciting," Cumberledge said. "You learn stuff you didn't even know was possible to learn."
Junior Brooks Harrison has been preparing for the science bowl by studying information and sample questions provided by the DOE.
"There are study forms you can go online and find, and old questions," he explained. "You can learn a lot."
While at WVU on Saturday, he hopes to meet more people "and learn more about science."
The other members of the John Marshall High School science bowl team are seniors Grace Gatts and Lillian Roman.
The teachers who serve as coaches are Dave Parsons and Joe Sturgill.
Representatives from the other schools did not immediately return messages Thursday afternoon.
Teams from the four local high schools also recently competed against each other in a regional science bowl competition at the Wheeling-Ohio County Library.
A team from WPHS won that event, with the John Marshall team finishing second.