As the regional champion, this North Hollywood team will receive the Hitachi Scholarship and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. April 26 to 30 to compete at the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl and to represent the City of Los Angeles. The trip is funded by the Department of Energy.  They will compete in a field of 69 regional high school championship teams from 40 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  A total of 10 teams from California will participate.

Previous LADWP regional winning teams have among the best records at the National Science Bowl having captured four national titles and placed among the top five teams 10 times.

This year, Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (SOCES) in Reseda also gave an impressive performance in placing second.  The third place winner was Palisades Charter High School, while North Hollywood High School Team B placed fourth.

Students also showed skill and problem solving abilities in the special First Wind Hands-On Competition, in memory of the late LADWP electrical engineer and Science Bowl volunteer Franklin Lu. This year’s competition involved constructing a mechanical grabber, “The Claw,” and gaining as many points as possible by picking up various objects and dropping them into a box in two minutes.

The recipient of the first place Franklin Lu Hands-On trophy was TCA Arshag Dickranian School. Team members received a $250 Scholarship. The second place award and scholarships were presented to Reseda High School Team B. Third and fourth places and scholarships were awarded to Wilson High School Team B and El Camino Charter High School respectively. First Wind funded all the scholarships in the hands-on competition.

Science Bowl is a proud LADWP tradition and excellent example of the Department’s commitment to the Los Angeles educational community.  Each year, the LADWP Science Bowl tests the city’s sharpest students’ reflexes, teamwork skills and knowledge in a fun competitive atmosphere following a television game show format.  LADWP is one of only a few utilities in the nation to serve as a coordinating regional sponsor and host.

LADWP is involved in a number of educational partnership and community programs including the Adopt-A-School Program and an electric safety program for elementary schools. The LADWP also supports online water and energy science and math lessons at the secondary level as well as electric safety activities for kids. Further information about LADWP education programs is available by visiting www.ladwp.com, clicking on the “Community Involvement” section and then selecting “LADWP in the School.”

In addition to LADWP, sponsors for this year’s Science Bowl included, First Wind, the Hitachi Southern California Regional Community Action Committee, the Hitachi Foundation, Clary Corporation, IEEE’s Power and Energy Society Metro LA Chapter, IEEE’s Industry Applications Society, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Water and Power Community Credit Union, Gelson’s Markets, the Engineers’ Council, Office Depot, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The National Science Bowl is the nation’s largest high school science-based academic competition and the only one sponsored by a federal agency.

The LADWP is the nation’s largest municipally-owned utility in the nation with 1.4 million customers. It has provided utility services to residents and businesses in Los Angeles for more than 100 years.

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