Wright Junior High headed to National Science Bowl for fifth straight year

For the fifth consecutive year, a team from Wright Junior High School in Lincolnshire is headed to the National Science Bowl this month.

The competition is April 26 to 30 in Washington, D.C. The team members won all-expenses-paid trips as part of the contest.

Sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department, the Science Bowl is a knowledge competition for high school and middle school students. It employs a question-and-answer format and a buzzer system like many TV quiz shows.

"The National Science Bowl continues to be one of the premier academic competitions across the country," U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in a news release. "(It) prepares America's students for future successes in some of the world's fastest growing fields in science, technology and engineering."

The Wright team consists of: sixth-grader Akshansh Chauhan; seventh-graders Srihas Rao, Deepak Salian and Rishabh Wuppalapati; and eighth-grader Anmol Dash. The team is coached by Anthony Hafner and Sarah Kantor.

The squad earned the national berth by winning a regional middle school division title in January.

This is the seventh time in eight years a team from Wright has participated in the national event.

Lincolnshire Prairie View School District 103 Superintendent Scott Warren attributed the team's continued success to an advanced science curriculum, committed instructors and coaches, student responsibility and parental support at home.

"We are very proud of our students for doing so well, our dedicated coaches for their hard work and our parents for their continued support," Warren said.

Joaquin Miller Middle School in California won the competition in 2017 and 2016.

Although a Wright team has never won the main national Science Bowl, it did win an electric car competition at the 2012 event and a fuel cell car design competition and a fuel cell car race at the 2007 event.