Seniors Smit Babariya and Ember Galloway and sophomores Aaron Huynh and Liya Tewodros participated in the West Virginia Regional Science Bowl Competition hosted by the National Department of Energy on Feb. 7 and took home second place. The four received a prize package that included a $900 donation to the school’s science department.
“We were shocked, to be honest, because earlier that morning we were like ‘if we just make it to the afternoon rounds, we’d be happy,’” Huynh said. “But we got to second place, so that was really exciting.”
With the money they won they decided to purchase a new trophy case. The trophy case is placed at the entrance of the second floor science hallway and showcases trophies won by the science teams over the years.
“While I can’t speak on Mrs. Berry’s behalf, I think the trophy case is important for the legacy the team has under her tenure,” Galloway said. “There might not be a Science Bowl team next year because Mrs. Berry is retiring, and that makes the trophy case all the more significant for encapsulating this period of PHS history.”
These trophies earned are a testament to how much work goes into preparing and competing in these competitions. The four prepared by staying after school every Tuesday for an hour and practicing science-related questions. As they got closer to competition, they started practicing more than one day a week.
“We met every Tuesday after school and simulated competition like practice,” Babariya said. “A commentator, usually Kara (Pascarella), read us Science Bowl questions and we would compete to answer them first.”
This was the team’s only competition of the year but Huynh and Tewodros plan to continue participating in Science Bowl next year. They hope to have more members next year so that they are able to secure second place or better again.
“It was really exciting to win second place because we exceeded our expectations,” Tewodros said. “We were just going into the competition with the mentality to do our best.”
