A team of scientists from Montgomery Blair High School made it to the Sweet 16 of high school competitors in the 22nd annual National Science Bowl at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase April 26-30.

The Blair team was made up of tenth graders Alexander Bourzutschky, Saurav Das, Alan Du and Avikar Periwal and eleventh grader Charlie Pasternak. They were coached by Tran Pham, a Blair magnet program science teacher.

The Silver Spring school’s team was one of 68 that made it to the high school nationals. It received a cash award of $1,000 for the school’s science department.

The National Science Bowl was started by the U.S. Department of Energy in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. It is the nation’s largest science competition, with more than 200,000 students participating in its 22 year history.

To learn more about the National Science Bowl visit www.science.energy.gov/nsb.