The Princeton Charter School’s science team claimed the Middle School competition in the New Jersey Regional science bowl to punch a ticket to Washington, D.C.
The victory presented Princeton Charter School a chance to compete next month in the U.S Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl, which will be held in our nation’s capital from April 25 through 29.
The Princeton Charter School defeated the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School at the regional competition Feb. 22, making it the second consecutive victory for the Princeton Charter School. It had defeated the Princeton Public Schools’ John Witherspoon Middle School team in 2018.
Laura Celik, one of two Princeton Charter School science team coaches, said she was especially pleased with the victory because many of the team members were new. Most of the team graduated last year, she said, adding that “there was a lot of pressure (on this year’s team).”
“They are really proud to repeat (the win),” Celik said of the team, which earned an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for having won the New Jersey Regional Science Bowl.
The Princeton Charter School’s middle school team members are Jack Fan, Justin Feeder, Jonathan Gu, George Kopf, and Viraj Singh. The team is coached by Laura Celik and Suzanne Ritter.
This was the 26th year that the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab has served as the host to the Science Bowl. There were 126 middle school teams and 32 high school teams competing to win in the double-elimination format.
There were up to 11 rounds for middle school teams and up to 13 rounds for high school teams. The students answered 46 questions per round in earth and space science, life science, math and technology.
Nationwide, the New Jersey students were among 4,500 middle school students and 9,000 high school students competing in regional Science Bowl tournaments. There were 50 middle school competitions and 65 high school competitions across the United States.
The Princeton Charter School will compete against 49 other regional teams when it travels to Washington, D.C., to take part in the National Science Bowl competition.
The federal energy department manages the contest and sponsors the finals competition.