Arcadia High School (AHS) secured 3rd place at the Los Angeles Surf Bowl On Jan. 20. The Los Angeles Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl tournament has been hosted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory annually since 2000. National Ocean Science Bowl (OSB) consists of two competitions: Regionals and Nationals. Regional competitions are held by cities; for example, California competitions are held within Los Angeles County by JPL in Pasadena. According to JPL’s website, OSB consists of “Round Robin competition, critical thinking based Team Challenge Questions and a Double Elimination Competition.”
This year, OSB was a “for- fun” competition in place of the usual national competition. Events revolve around a specific theme, and teams answer questions using buzzers. Topics in OSB include: biology, chemistry, geography, physics, geology, social sciences, technology, and marine policy.
Coach Kristeen Pisano, a Biology and Human Anatomy teacher, is OSB’s advisor. There are 14 team members led by senior Captains Jenna Lam and Madeline Ang. This academic team has meetings after school every Tuesday. Meetings are meant to imitate the real tournaments, as practices include buzzer system practice rounds. Preparations also entail biweekly presentations, tons of team challenge questions, and reading advice previous captains left behind. Through the process, they were able to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and strategize how to work effectively with the circumstances. The captains try to make meetings entertaining and fun as well instead of it being too serious, offering a safe practice space.
OSB was only allowed to send one team to compete, so seniors were sent this year. Both captains were on the team, as well as seniors Michelle So and Bryan Ni.
Lam loved experiencing the competition. She stated, “ I got so much adrenaline from interrupting so often, and I’m really glad I got to experience an in-person competition before I graduate, especially with my team who worked so well together!” Lam enjoyed learning about NASA’s projects from moderators working at JPL, and despite the outcome of Regionals, OSB is a very hard-working, dedicated team.
They agreed the JPL competition was an excellent learning and bonding experience for the team.
“It was our first in-person competition and we placed third against some very competitive schools, so I would say it was a success,” Ang said. She included that the lively environment of the competition made it so “exhilarating.” It was an extraordinary learning experience as all the JPL volunteers were extremely friendly and eager to share their career journey, including “passing on their knowledge and advice.”
Overall, despite the outcome of this year’s regionals, OSB will continue to work hard and practice well. Their hard work helped them come so far and gave them a good chance this year. Let’s wish them luck for next year!
Photo courtesy of AHS OSB
