LUCASVILLE, Ohio (Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth) – Valley High School has captured first place in this year’s South Central Ohio Regional Science Bowl.

The regional competition, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), drew 18 schools and 30 teams from Scioto, Pike, Ross and Jackson counties. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, teams competed at their individual schools instead of gathering at one venue.

“We are very proud of all of the students. They worked hard to prepare for this year’s competition and have done an outstanding job representing our communities,” said Acting Portsmouth Site Lead Jeremy Davis with DOE's Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO). “A very special congratulations to Valley High School for winning the regional Science Bowl competition. We wish them well as they move forward to Nationals.”

With the win, the Valley Indians will represent their region in the National Semi-Finals Virtual Tournament on Saturday, May 21. The top eight teams will then compete for the National Championship July 8–12 in Washington, D.C.

Schools have the option of entering two teams into the Regional Science Bowl, and this year Valley’s other team secured 3rd place. The remainder of the top four teams were Zane Trace (2nd) and Pike Christian Academy (4th) high schools.

“We are very excited about winning this year's competition,” Valley Coach Justin Howard said. “We had a lot of fun competing even though we didn't get to go to Shawnee (State University) this year. We are so proud of our teams for their hard work and we are looking forward to doing our best in the next round as we represent our region.”

This is PPPO’s 10th year hosting the regional competition.  More information on the NSB can be found at: https://science.osti.gov/wdts/nsb.