Four seventh graders, Om Duggineni, Shruti Kamasamudram, Srihan Kotnana, Deccan Maniam and won first place in the regional competition for the National Science Bowl, in Norfolk, Virginia, on Mar. 3. Their win took them to the national competition in Washington D.C., from Apr. 6 to Apr. 30, where they won third place.

The National Science Bowl is a nationwide competition hosted by the United States Department of Energy. In the beginning of the school year, RCMS students had the opportunity to try out to be the team that represented the school. Students got into teams or four or five people, and collaborated to complete a test. Om, Shruti, Srihan, and Deccan, received the highest score.

“It was like Jeopardy, they asked us questions, someone on your team buzzed the buzzer to answer the question. If it was right, you move on,” said Deccan.

“The Nationals competition was a round robin, whoever beats the most teams wins, if you lose twice, you are eliminated,” Om explained.

The team prepared for a long time to win the award.

“We met at Om’s house every Saturday from when our team was first selected to represent Rachel Carson,” Shruti said. “Closer to the competitions, it became every day.”

“I was surprised, I didn’t think we would get this far,” Srihan said.