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LOS Angeles (CNS) - A North Hollywood High School team has won the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Science Bowl XXXI Regional Competition.
North Hollywood High School Team A was also awarded the first place Melinda Rho Memorial Trophy, named in memory of a late volunteer. Each member will receive the $1,000 Hitachi Scholarship and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. from April 27 to May 1 to represent the city of Los Angeles at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science National Science Bowl. The team will compete, along with seven others from California, in a field of 65 high school regional champions from 40 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
North Hollywood High School Team B placed second in the Saturday competition. Team B members were awarded $700 Water and Power Community Credit Union Scholarship. The winner of the third-place trophy was Harvard Westlake High School and the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies placed fourth.
Each year, teams tackle a different challenge. This year, teams were tasked with constructing an operable mechanical claw out of everyday household items such as paper towel tubes, spoons, electrical tape and clothes pins. The teams then received points for moving the items to one of two buckets, one farther away than the other. The items that moved farther away received more points.
In the hands-on competition, Chaminade High School Team A was the recipient of the first place Franklin Lu Hands-On Trophy, presented in memory of the late LADWP engineer and Science Bowl volunteer who helped begin this part of the program. Chaminade Team members received a $500 scholarship. The second-place scholarship awards were presented to Ramon C. Cortines Visual and Performing Arts High School Team Members. Third and fourth place scholarships were awarded to Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School and Downtown Business High School respectively.
The National Science Bowl is among the nation's largest science-based academic competitions and the only one sponsored by a federal agency. Since its inception in 1991, more than 330,000 students have participated in the program. This year, 9,000 students participated in high school regional competitions and 5,000 in middle school regionals.