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Schools

Blair High School 'Whiz Kids' Place Second at National Science Bowl Competition

Semifinalists from Blair High School were Andrew Das Sarma, Ajay Kannan, Fang Cao, Nilay Kumar Sandra Yan, Winston Liu and Raina Zheng.

A team of scientific ‘whiz kids’ from Montgomery Blair High School placed second in the high school division of the prestigious National Science Bowl competition which wrapped up Monday at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase.

Blair’s team, consisting of five students and coach Tran Pham, lost out in the finals to a team from Mira Loma High School in California which travelled all the way across the country to get to Chevy Chase.

 The five-member team was comprised of Diwakaran Ilangovan, Alexander Briese, Andrew Das Sharma. Sandra Yan and Samuel Zbarsky.

Each of the Blair students received a $750 scholarship from the U.S. Air Force.

Sandra Yan told Silver Chips Online, the Blair High online student newspaper, that most of it relies on speed.

She also attributed the team’s success to the fact that Pham has been a science bowl coach for over 15 years. The Mira Loma squad prevailed over Blair by correctly answering a difficult chemistry question.

Meanwhile, another California school from San Ramon won the middle school section of the competition which ran for five days, April 28 through May 2.

At the awards ceremony Monday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu spoke to the more than 500 students and 100 teacher/coaches about the importance of science education to the nation’s economic and technological well-being. The Energy Department sponsors the annual event.

One hundred ten teams from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands participated in this year’s national finals. Earlier this year more than 14,000 students took part in the regional science bowls around the nation.

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