Mt. Sinai High School defeated Bronx High School of Science to win the 9th Annual Bay Scallop Bowl held at Stony Brook on March 6. This is the second year in a row that Mt. Sinai has won. The Bay Scallop Bowl is one of 25 regional competitions that take place nationwide as part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, an annual competition that tests high school students on their knowledge of oceanography and related disciplines.
Before the competition began, students, parents, coaches, and volunteers were welcomed by School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) Dean David Conover, Stony Brook University Provost Eric Kaler, New York State Senator John J. Flanagan, New York Sea Grant Director Jim Ammerman, and Bay Scallop Bowl Co-Coordinator Bill Wise. They all congratulated the students on their participation and encouraged their continued interest in the oceans and our environment.
Members of the Mt. Sinai team will each receive a cash prize of $1,000 and will represent New York in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl finals in St. Petersburg, Florida, in April. Each member of the second place team, Bronx High School of Science, will receive a cash prize of $750. Each member of the third place team, Locust Valley High School, will receive $500.
The team from Farmingdale High School was selected for the 2010 Bay Scallop Bowl Sportsmanship Award and won several oceanography books for their team library. The Farmingdale team attended the event only to observe the competition in preparation for next year. But when another school dropped out, the Farmingdale team was willing to step in at the last minute and compete.
The Bay Scallop Bowl is supported in part by financial contributions from the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, SoMAS, Battelle Memorial Institute, New York Sea Grant, the Blue Ocean Institute, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, and the New York State Marine Education Association. Janet Werner of Deer Park High School donated the oceanographic books for the winners of the Sportsmanship Award.
At the concluding ceremony, Wise thanked his event co-coordinator, Kim Knoll, and volunteer coordinator, Anne Cooper Ellefson, as well as the more than 80 volunteers required to make the event a success.
“The Bay Scallop Bowl is an opportunity to learn as much as you can about our oceans then pit yourself against other people who know the material quite well and see how you stack up,” Wise told the students. “It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and good sportsmanship that you brought to the competition this year.”
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