MMS Science Bowl Competition Team Wins Regional Tournament
Murray Middle School’s five-member Science Bowl team will compete in DOE’s National Science ® Bowl (NSB) Finals, which will be conducted virtually from April 29 to May 3, 2021.
Pictured: (back row, left to right) Murray Middle School Coach Mechelle Morgan, Selvan Antony, Ethan Peng, Coach Sheri Muehleman; (front row, left to right) Ali Yarali, Amelie Johnson and Cullen Larkin
Murray Middle School of Murray, Kentucky, won the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl on Friday, February 19, a contest held virtually to protect the health and safety of students, coaches and volunteers.
The five-member Murray team now will compete in DOE’s National Science Bowl® (NSB) Finals, which will be conducted virtually from April 29 to May 3, 2021. The Murray Middle School team will join Paducah Tilghman High School to compete against other schools from across the nation.
Six middle school teams stepped up to the challenge to compete in the region’s most notable science competition for middle school students. DOE conducted extensive virtual training sessions to prepare coaches, volunteers, and competitors in advance for the virtual event.
Heath Middle School finished second and Calloway County Middle School finished third in the regional competition.
“It was such a wonderful opportunity for our students. They worked very hard and were willing to put the time in that it takes to be successful,” Murray Middle School Coach Sheri Muehleman said. “DOE, at both the local and national levels, provided support that made it easy for our team and our coaches to take part in this year’s event. We are so thankful for their hard work.”
Other middle schools competing in this year’s virtual event were Henderson County Middle School, Lone Oak Middle School and St. Mary Middle School.
The Science Bowl tournament is a quick-recall, fast-paced, question-and-answer contest. The tournament is designed to quiz students on their knowledge of biology, chemistry, Earth and space, energy, mathematics and physics.
“We are proud of the hard work that our students have put into preparing for this event and look forward to seeing them succeed,” said Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard of DOE’s
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO). “This competition plays an important role in helping students determine their plans for high school and beyond.”
The top 16 high school and middle school teams in the NSB finals will receive $1,000 for their schools’ science departments. Each year, more than 14,000 students from across the country compete in the national competition. Since the event began 30 years ago, more than 315,000 students have competed.
Sponsors of the 13th Annual DOE Regional Science Bowl include: DOE, the University of Kentucky College of Engineering—Paducah Campus, the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, Beltline Electric, Chase Environmental, Enterprise Technical Assistance Services, Inc., Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, LLC, Geo Consultants, Geo-Syntech, Greater Paducah Economic Development, HDR Engineering, HealthWorks, Mid-America Conversion Services, NorthWind, Paducah Water, Petter Business and Supply, Swift and Staley, Inc. and Veolia.
The event is sponsored and organized by employees and contractors of DOE PPPO. More than 50 volunteers serve as moderators, judges, technical advisors, and scorekeepers. DOE’s Office of ®Science manages the National Science Bowl Finals competition. More information is available at https://science.osti.gov/wdts/nsb.