Mountain View High School wins 31st annual BPA Regional Science Bowl

In a battle across statelines, Lake Oswego High School Team 1 of Lake Oswego, Ore., took on Mountain View High School of Vancouver, Washington, for the title of champion in the 31st annual Bonneville Power Administration Regional Science Bowl on Saturday at the University of Portland.

Mountain View emerged undefeated to advance to the Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., at the end of April. Lake Oswego High School Team 1 took second and Lake Oswego High School Team 2 secured third place, while Sunset High School Team 1 of Portland, Oregon, rounded out the competition in fourth.

These teams were part of roughly 170 students from public and private high school teams across western Washington and Oregon, who competed in the nation’s second largest regional science bowl.
On Jan. 28, BASIS Independent School from Bellevue, Washington won the regional middle school competition. Redmond Middle School out of Redmond, Washington took second place and Odle Middle School, also from Redmond, finished in third.

BASIS Independent will join Mountain View to compete in their respective divisions at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., with an all-expense paid trip April 27 to May 1.

The bowl is an intense academic event, using a Jeopardy-style, round-robin format that showcases students’ talents in science, technology, engineering and math. This year, the event returned to an in-person affair after the COVID-19 pandemic compelled BPA to host the 2022 bowl virtually and cancel the 2021 competition completely. 

Some 135 volunteers comprised of BPA employees and previous competitors who want to support the next generation of students interested in STEM make up the bulk of the regional bowl’s support staff. One volunteer, Kari Hay, a Columbia River Treaty technical specialist for BPA in Power and Operations Planning Group, formerly taught math at Mountain View High School in Vancouver and coached the school’s science bowl team from 2008-2010. 

“I can’t put into words the feeling in the air at science bowl, in the competition rooms, or in the auditorium, or even just the hallways,” said Hay. “It makes you really excited for this next generation of achievers. The volunteers and parents were beaming, the kids were practically vibrating, maybe even levitating.”

BPA views this event as an opportunity to encourage students to consider STEM-based careers and build the future labor pool of scientists and innovators who are critical to the energy industry.

More info on BPA Regional Science Bowl: www.bpa.gov/learn-and-participate/community-education/science-bowl. 

More info on DOE’s National Science Bowl: https://science.osti.gov/wdts/nsb.