The IN D E P E N D E N T , F e b ru a ry 2 0 , 2 0 0 2
Page 9
VHS students
get, and give, a
practical lesson
in government
State legislators, in Salem
for a special budget session,
were targets of a hands-on les
son in government and current
e v e n ts ...ta jg h t by a bus-load
of Vernonia High School stu
dents.
Accompanied by teachers
Steve Calhoun and Patty Dick
ens, the students attended the
budget-balancing session to
deliver a message to state sen
ators
and
representatives
about the negative effects of
further reductions in education
al support.
The special session ended
in a stalemate, with no agree
ment between the governor
and the legislature. Hearings
have started and another ses
sion will be convened to re
sume negotiations.
Three Vernonia teams tackle competition in
Leaving Vernonia at 5:30
a.m., seventeen ju n io r high
school students from W ashing
ton Grade School accompanied
jun io r high science teacher
Chris McNeill to the Annual
Middle School Science Bowl,
where they joined more than
150 m iddle school students
from Washington and Oregon
on February 9 at the Vancou
ver, Wash., campus of W ash
ington State University. This
event is sponsored by Bon
neville Power, among others,
and is run by volunteer em ploy
ees of Bonneville.
The top two teams from the
regional event w ill travel to
Washington, D.C. in March to
vie with teams from throughout
the nation in the first national
middle school championship.
Like their athletic peers, Sci
ence Bowl participants have
been in training, building their
skills, sharpening their wits and
perfecting their team strategies.
The BPA Science Bowl is one
of the few events in which stu
dents can meet their academic
counterparts
from
other
schools, flex their intellectual
brawn and be acknowledged
for their achievement.
The tournam ent-style aca
demic competition challenges
and
recognizes
students’
knowledge of science, math,
com puter technology and sci
entific current events. Teams of
students engage in a round
robin competition in the morn
ing. Usually, four rounds are
played and teams winning the
most rounds advance into the
afternoon double elimination.
Each match consists of a
timed session in which a mod
erator asks questions which
Country Kitchen & Pizza
BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER
Soup & Salad Bar • Pies & Pastries
“SOFT SERVE” CONES & SHAKES
Home of the Paul Bunyan Burger
Across from High School
Orders To Go
503-429-6523
DELIVERY AVAILABLE
may be answered by any stu
dent on either team. The ques-
tion-and-answer format compe
tition is modeled after television
game shows, using a lock-out
buzzer system. Students are
recognized then given the op
portunity to respond. With a
correct answer, the team is
awarded four points and the
opportunity to answer a bonus
question for an additional ten
points with another correct an-
Here are some sam ple
questions:
PHYSICS, Multiple Choice:
The random movement of dust
particles in a room is an example
of
(W) Inelastic collisions.
(X) Elastic collisions.
(Y) Brownian motion.
(Z) Vortexes.
ANSWER:
tion
(Y) Brownian Mo
CHEMISTRY, Multiple Choice:
Crystals of ice are
(W) isometric.
(X) tetragonal.
(Y) hexagonal.
(Z) orthorhombic
ANSWER: (Y) hexagonal
EARTH SCIENCES, Multiple
Choice: Approximately how many
known minerals are there on
Earth?
(W)
(X)
(V)
(Z)
400
2,000
4,000
10,000
ANSWER: (Y) 4000
PA Science Bowl
swer. The team with the most
points at the end of the session
is the winner of that match.
Each participating school
builds its own teams consisting
of four student contestants and
two alternates each. Washing
ton Junior High entered three
teams this year. The A and B
teams both qualified for the
double elim ination, winning
three and four rounds, respec
tively. The C team didn’t do as
well and was eliminated in the
morning competition. However,
the C team was all seventh
graders, whose com petition
was entirely A teams composed
of eighth graders.
Afternoon matches proved
to be difficult, as W GS’s A and
B teams were both eliminated
after three rounds, winning one
and losing two. This resulted in
a finish tied for twelfth place.
Participating in the compete-
tion for Vernonia were Ben
Schorzm an, Damon McNeill,
Kevin Johnston, Sam Thornton,
Jacob Hales and Alex Bittinger
on the A team. The B team con
sisted of John Fitch, Zach Ser-
afin, Paul Ogden, Dalen Lee,
Seth Brock and Jessica Tar-
rence. On the C team were Am
ber Abney, Sam Sears, Brent
Thompson, Ryan Peets and
Nick Hammons. Only Schorz
man and Thornton are in the
eighth grade, all of the others
are in seventh grade.
Receiving individual honors
was John Fitch for answering
25 questions. Ben Schorzman
answered 16 and missed an in
dividual award by one answer.
McNeill was very pleased
with the students’ performance
and looks forward to next year,
when most of the students will
be eighth graders.
The BPA Science Bowl is the
largest and oldest regional
competition in the nation.
Mist School schedules “Mad Science
Read-A-Thon for science program
It is not too late to sponsor a
reader for the first ever Mist
Grade School Mad Science
Read-A-Thon Fundraiser! The
event kicks off March 2 (Dr.
S euss’ birthday) and ends
March 10. During this nine day
period, students will be given
credit for each hour they read
outside of regular classroom
time. They will be reading to
raise money for Mad Science,
an eight week, hands-on sci
ence program that will begin at
Mist Grade School after spring
break.
Sponsor an individual Mist
Grade School student reader
by signing their pledge sheet or
by phoning Mist Grade School
at 503-755-2486. Pledge an
am ount per hour or a fixed
amount.