The Los Alamos Middle School A Team, from left, Captain David Gao, Phillip Martin, Sonyia Williams, Presley Gao and Coach Naomi Unger. Courtesy photoLAPS News:
Los Alamos Middle School’s A Team won the New Mexico State Middle School Science Bowl Feb. 8. In a heart-stopping match against Albuquerque Academy’s A Team, it literally came down to the last question. The teams tied and had to go into a nail biting tie-breaker round.
Science Bowl is a high-speed, jeopardy-like competition where kids work in teams to answer questions in life science, physical science, energy, earth and space science, general science and math.
The A Team consists of Captain David Gao, Presley Gao, Phillip Martin and Sonyia Williams. The A Team now qualifies for an all-expense paid trip to the National Science Bowl Tournament in Washington, D.C. in April.
“It has been seven years since we qualified for Nationals and I couldn’t be more proud of how these students have dedicated themselves to excellence,” Team Coach Naomi Unger said. “They were truly a team.”
Unger teaches science at Los Alamos Middle School. This is her second year coaching the Science Bowl teams.
The B Team had only two losses, one to Academy and the other to the Middle School’s own A Team. B Team earned third place in the Science Bowl. It consists of Captain Steven Zhao, Alex Lonkov and Jon Doorn. The B Team kids competed with only three members, while most other teams had five, Unger said. Zhao will go along to the National Tournament as an alternate.
“We started working in September, practicing once a week, and moved to two practices a week in January,” Unger said. “The kids will continue to practice right up until we go to nationals.”
