Lakeside wins second at Science Bowl

On Feb. 7, a group of Lakeside High School students learned the importance of speed.

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Students from Dorman High School in Roebuck, S.C., repeatedly beat the Columbia County students to the buzzer in the final round of the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Regional Science Bowl.

"Dorman was amazing," said Pramodh Ganapathy, a Lakeside junior.

This was the second year Lakeside and Dorman faced off for the finals. Dorman also won last year, but the team was unable to go to the nationals and Lakeside took its spot. Two years ago, Lakeside won the competition.

Students were quizzed on various topics, including chemistry, physics, biology and astronomy. They also were tested on their math knowledge.

Twenty teams from 15 high schools, including Evans High, North Augusta High, South Aiken High and John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, competed in the daylong event.

"This promotes excellence in science and math," said Barbara Smoak, the manager of education outreach at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.

The event had a double-elimination round robin format. Davidson students won the brain-teaser portion of the competition.

"It's pretty awesome," Charlotte Smith, a Lakeside High School teacher, said of the second-place finish. "They are very knowledgeable. They put on a good competition."

Dorman will compete in the national competition in May in Washington, D.C.

Other members of the second place Lakeside team include Arya Aghdasi, Zach Dromsky and James Meixiong.