San Ramon schools make deep runs in National Science Bowl finals

San Ramon schools had a strong showing at the Department of Energy’s 27th National Science Bowl, placing in the top eight of the high school competition and second in the middle school contest.

The team from Windemere Ranch Middle School placed second in the National Science Bowl’s final championship round Monday, while Dougherty Valley High School made it to the final eight before being eliminated.

“The National Science Bowl continues to be one of the premier academic competitions across the country and prepares America’s students for future successes in some of the world’s fastest growing fields in science, technology, and engineering,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in a statement.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Bowl is an annual competition that quizzes middle and high school students on topics from various scientific disciplines. One goal of the contest is to promote STEM courses among American students. This year over 9,000 high school and 5,300 middle school students participated in the regional competitions across the country.

One of the main themes of this year’s contest was an extensive focus on cybersecurity.

Windemere Ranch finished second behind Odle Middle School from Bellevue, Wash. in the final championship round at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C. on Monday. The five-student team won the California regional competition earlier this winter to qualify for nationals.

The team was coached by Kimberly Hansell, a Windemere Ranch science teacher, and Sharad Nair, who has served as the Science Bowl coach for the past six years. Both of Nair’s sons have gone through the program.

Over 100 middle school students typically try out for the science bowl team, and coaches have to narrow it down to two teams of six consisting of five competitors and one alternative, Nair said.

Dougherty Valley High competed against 64 other regional high school champion teams from across the country and its territories and advances all the way to the final-eight before its run ended.

Lexington High School in Lexington, Mass. won the high school competition and will receive a nine-day, all-expense paid science trip to Alaska.

Both Windemere Ranch and Dougherty Valley’s efforts have been rewarded with grants to further advance their STEM programs. The top 16 high school teams and the top 16 middle school teams in the national finals each won $1,000 to go toward their schools’ science departments.

The Department of Energy created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM. Approximately 290,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl since its creation. Schools may sign up to participate in 2019’s competition starting in October.

Windemere Ranch team member, Venkat “Venky” Ranjan, is having a very successful 2018. Last month he won the National Geographic California Geography Bee in Fresno. He will be returning to Washington D.C. at the end of May to compete in the national geography competition with a chance at a $50,000 scholarship.