A team of our very own Billings Central Rams recently tested their wits in the National Science Bowl competition in Washington D.C. This is the first time in Central’s history that a group of students qualified for the national in-person competition. Hank Jagodzinski, Alex Johnson, Casey Rah, Matthew Rah, and Ellis Tillery embarked on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. representing BCCHS and Montana. Father John Pankratz and Nolan Trafton accompanied the team to D.C. as coaches.

To secure their spot in D.C., the team had to win the Big Sky regional tournament. “We were just so excited when we won,” said Matthew Rah. “I was also really impressed with the way that our team answered difficult questions and how we helped each other out.”

The Big Sky Regional Competition included teams from Montana and part of Wyoming. To win regionals, the team competed in three preliminary rounds that were guaranteed for everyone in the tournament.  Then, they competed in a few single-elimination rounds and faced off against Absarokee in the final. Hank Jagodzinski commented, “We were very surprised that we made it there in the first place. We had some tough rounds at the beginning. We got to the point where there were two minutes left and we were ahead by a healthy margin. It was exciting that we were going to win the Science Bowl…we were two-time champions and this was the first time that we won it in person.”

The Science Bowl competition is a fast-paced competition composed of six categories: biology, chemistry, earth and space science, physics, energy, and math. For the questions, the moderator asks a toss-up question, which the team has 5 seconds to answer. If they answer the toss up-question correctly, they are then offered a bonus question, which they have 20 seconds to answer. Toss-up questions are worth four points and bonus questions are worth ten points. It is a team’s goal to accumulate as many points as possible to advance to the next round of the competition.

The National Science Bowl competition this year hosted sixty-eight high school teams from across the country. The teams battled for glory and the chance to win $1000, $5,000 or $10,000 for their schools’ science departments. Every year, winning regional teams receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C., where they engage in sightseeing, seminars, and hands-on science activities in addition to the competition. The national competition this year ran from April 27^th – May 1^st.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Courtesy of Father John Pankratz

BCCHS Science Bowl Team members at Billings Logan International Airport waiting for their flight.