FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wayzata High School Wins National Science Bowl

Minnesota Academy of Science Regional Champ Named Best in the Nation

[April 29, 2019, Washington, DC] - The Minnesota Academy of Science’s Regional High School Science Bowl championship team from Wayzata High School won the 2019 Department of Energy National Science Bowl today, defeating Dulles High School from Sugar Land, Texas, in the final round of competition.

The winning Wayzata team was one of 64 regional champions to advance to the national competition. In January, Wayzata defeated 32 other high school teams from across Minnesota to become Regional champs and win an expense-paid trip to represent Minnesota in the National Science Bowl.

In Science Bowl, students compete in five-person teams to solve technical problems and answer questions in all branches of science and math in a fast-paced question-and-answer format. Wayzata’s team members are Geoffrey Chen, Stephen Chen, Aayush Gupta, Matthew Qu, and Ben Weiner. Their coach is Amanda Laden. By becoming national champions, the team has won a 9-day science trip to Alaska and $1,000 for their school's science department.

"These students are dedicated to excellence in every aspect of education with their most notable strengths in science and math," said Laden. "They thrive on competition so an event like Regional Science Bowl and National Science Bowl competition inspires them to go beyond what is offered in the classroom. I'm amazed by the sheer volume of information they have learned and retained. There are many questions that they can answer in my subject area - biology - that I can't answer myself!"

Minnesota’s Regional Science Bowl is a program of the Minnesota Academy of Science, a nonprofit organization founded in 1873 which promotes an interest in and appreciation of science by encouraging excellence in science education. The competition is sponsored by generous contributions from Ecolab Foundation, Verizon Wireless, the Universithy of St. Thomas School of Engineering, the Hardenbergh Foundation, General Mills, Seagate, Medtronic, Cray, Inc, General Dynamics, Diasorin, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

For more information contact:

Minnesota Academy of Science

• 970 Raymond Ave., Suite 103 • St. Paul, MN 55114 • (651) 917-3994 • www.mnmas.org •

Barbara Donoho

Science Bowl Manager

Minnesota Academy of Science

bdonoho@mnmas.org

Wayzata Coach

Amanda Laden

amanda.laden@wayzataschools.org

Lara Maupin

Communication Specialist