Clubs

The Science Bowl school-wide tournament was hosted by the Science Bowl Club via Adobe Connect on September 27. The National Science Bowl is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition with a quiz bowl format in the United States.

Founded by Lakshmi Agrawal (‘26), an 11th grader at OHS, the Science Research Society is a new society designed to help OHS students embark on their scientific research journeys.

One of the best parts of being a leader is seeing new people show interest in our club. This was especially present in the earlier parts of the semester, where so many people just emailed Dr. Vetter and I, asking how they could join. It really inspires me, the sheer amount of people at OHS interested in neuroscience. It’s one thing that makes me hopeful about the field’s future, and motivates me to continue leading.

The team's funding comes from major organizations and companies, including NASA, Northrop-Grumman, Qualcomm and Viasat. According to Justin, what sets the club apart is its diverse membership, spanning three continents. While based in California, with branches in both San Diego and the Bay Area, team members come from various states across the US, such as Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New York. Additionally, there is international representation from countries such as Thailand, Italy, the UK, Canada, Serbia, and Switzerland. 

In Josh’s time competing in Science Bowl, he’s been able to make meaningful reflections on past tournaments. For instance, in middle school, he competed at Sandia Labs in a tournament similar to this one. Due to COVID-19, the remainder of Josh’s middle school tournaments were online. Josh expresses, “I much prefer the in-person science bowl tournaments to the online ones—it’s more exciting and you really feel the heat of the competition. Plus you don’t have to worry about lag!” Similarly, in comparison to practicing over Adobe Connect, “in-person practice was definitely more intense” and “felt more connected.” Typically, the team meets online weekly to go through practice sets provided by the Science Bowl.

A common tradition that continues with the theme of financial prosperity in the new year is to give and receive Lai See, which are red envelopes containing money. You can typically accept the envelopes from anyone when you are unmarried but traditionally, when you are married, you should only receive Lai See from your parents. With the age of technology during this time, the meeting talked about how digital methods of giving money are becoming increasingly more common. Some other traditional customs include superstitions like not cleaning the house or working on New Year's Eve and Day because it is considered as washing away your good luck and you don’t want to be working for the whole year. 

The rounds operate by starting with two teams, a moderator, and two to three judges. By flipping a coin, one team is able to pick if they want to go first or second. The moderator then presents the case and writes a question about it. The first team has two minutes to prepare a five-minute presentation on that question. Next, the second team has two minutes to confer to respond to the first team in a three-minute commentary. Again, the first team has two minutes to prepare their response to that commentary and delivers it within three minutes. The judges have one minute to confer, then ask questions to each team for ten minutes. 

So how do you get your hands on yearbooks? Well, they are currently available for purchase! You can find the link to buy them on the Gateway. Buyers should expect to receive their yearbook in late April to early May. Yearbooks will also be available for sale at Pixel Gathering and graduation this coming June! They will be sent directly to the address students request when their families purchase their yearbooks. Make sure you buy one soon because the deadline to purchase is coming up soon!