North Hollywood High School team is heading to national science bowl in April

On Saturday March 8, a team of six students from North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles Unified School District won the Los Angeles Department and Power Regional Science Bowl Competition at a downtown L.A. gathering of top students from Southern California. According to a statement from L.A, Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the students from North Hollywood High School in the San Fernando Valley demonstrated “a remarkable understanding of advanced science, math and technology concepts.”

In April the team will represent the L.A. region at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., where they will compete against about 67 high school regional champions from across the nation, including seven teams from California.

Students at North Hollywood High School won the 33rd annual LADWP regional science bowl competition. Now they head to the National Science Bowl competition in Washington DC. From left to right: Co-coach Leonard Soloff; students Charles Huang, Connor Zhao, Suzuko Ohshima. Connor Chang and Minghao Guo; and Coach Altair Maine. On Saturday, March 8, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of LA Department of Water and Power)

The winning team on March 8 faced tough competition from teams in Hollywood, Studio City and from their own high school in San Fernando Valley. Close behind the North Hollywood High School “Team A” was Harvard-Westlake High School’s “Team A,” which came in second, followed by North Hollywood High School’s “Team B” which came in third, and Hollywood’s Science Academy STEM Magnet’s “Team A” which placed fourth.

The winning North Hollywood students will each get a $1,250 Hitachi Scholarship, and the team will receive the Melinda Rho Memorial Trophy and $3,000 for their school’s science department. The late Melinda Rho, a DWP employee, “played a pivotal role in every aspect of the Science Bowl,” according to LADWP. Members of the second-placing Harvard-Westlake High School Team A will get a $1,000 scholarship and the school will get $2,500.