A team of middle school students from Chaffin Junior High in Fort Smith won their regional competition for the 2019 National Science Bowl® (NSB) this past weekend and will advance to compete in the NSB National Finals this spring in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), who sponsors the NSB, announced today.
Member of the team include Zain Rana, Parker Daffron, Lance Rofine, Tu Nguyen and Eshal Khan. They are coached by team sponsor and Chaffin science instructor Mr. Travis Minor.
“The National Science Bowl® has grown into one of the most prestigious and competitive science academic competitions in the country, challenging students to excel in the STEM fields so vital to America’s future,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “I am proud to oversee a Department that provides such a unique and empowering opportunity for our nation’s students, and I am honored to congratulate Chaffin Junior High School for advancing to the National Finals, where they will be competing against some of the brightest science, technology, and engineering students across the country.”
The NSB brings together thousands of middle and high school students from across the country to compete in a fast-paced question-and-answer format where they solve technical problems and answer questions on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth and space science, physics and math.
A series of 111 regional middle school and high school tournaments are being held across the country from January through March. Winners will advance to represent their areas at the National Science Bowl® held from April 25 to April 29 in Washington, D.C., for the final middle school and high school competitions.
The top 16 high school teams and the top 16 middle school teams in the National Finals will win $1,000 for their schools’ science departments. Prizes for the top two high school teams for the 2019 NSB will be announced at a later date.
The first and second place high school teams from the 2018 NSB received all-expenses-paid science trips to Alaska, where they learned more about glaciology, marine and avian biology, geology, and plate tectonics.
More than 290,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl® in its 28-year history, and it is one of the nation’s largest science competitions. More than 14,000 students compete in the NSB each year.