DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997               TAG: 9703250253

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   88 lines

KEMPSVILLE SCIENCE TEAM TO FLEX MINDS AT NATIONAL COMPETITION

Goliath had his David.

The Big Bad Wolf his third Little Pig.

And Alexandria's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology had its Kempsville High.

In the regional competition of the National Science Bowl, the team from Kempsville twice beat Thomas Jefferson, considered one of the nation's best public schools and recognized internationally for its science and math program. Kempsville and 45 other teams will compete May 2 and 3 in the national championship in Washington, D.C.

``It was great,'' said Kempsville senior and team member Paul Hamilton. ``(Beating T.J.) has been our goal for the last three years.''

The local team has finished second or fourth in the past six regional competitions, but this just seemed to be their year.

``These guys are really sharp, but last year, they didn't have enough Advanced Placement science classes,'' said team coach Larry Burd, a teacher at Kempsville.

Except for team alternate Scott Holcomb, a junior, all the science bowl Chiefs are seniors who have competed together before. Wendy Williams has been on the team two years, Hamilton and Andrea Wong three years and Steven Lin, four years.

Most of the team take science or math classes at Old Dominion University or Tidewater Community College because they have advanced beyond the school's offerings. Apparently, there just isn't a huge demand for multivariable calculus.

``Our intelligence,'' Wong cracks, ``is highly overrated.''

Right.

The team members are four of Kempsville's six National Merit Finalists with an average SAT score of 1575. That's out of a possible 1600. Oh, and Hamilton had a perfect score, too.

``We've had a great year,'' said Kempsville principal Louis Tonelson. ``These kids are a big part of it.''

The competition, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy, quizzes students on their knowledge of math-, science- and technology-related topics. Students try to be the first to ``buzz in'' with the correct answer on toss-up questions with teams conferring on bonus questions. But these aren't your run-of-the-mill quiz questions. Just for fun, try:

``Most bacteria possess a cell wall that contains a backbone of unusual sugars and side chains of amino acids, including D-alanine. The sugar derivative that is unique to bacteria is. . . '' None of the possible answers had fewer than four syllables. The answer: N-acetylmuramic acid.

The team members say they accumulate knowledge through the course of their studies and through their individual special interests. Most of their practice time is spent working with the buzzers and on strategy rather than studying.

Being in a room with the Kempsville team is like, to use an image they'd appreciate, being surrounded by charged ions intellectually bouncing off one another. They finish their teammates' sentences, rattle off complex answers while teasing one another, and try to coordinate busy schedules so they can get together to practice.

But they don't just excel at math and science. Hamilton and Lin play doubles on the school's tennis team. Hamilton also plays in the band. Wong was a citywide winner for literature in the Reflections competition. Williams is a leader in student government and Holcomb is a baseball player. And that doesn't begin to scratch the surface.

Teams from Jefferson High routinely win the science-related competitions that they enter. Going to the national finals alone would have been a great honor for Kempsville, but beating T.J. made it that much sweeter. Kempsville went up against Jefferson three times in the regional competition, losing the first time but winning the last two. The final round went down to the last question, in the Earth science category, which Wong answered.

``My biggest fear was that we'd beat ourselves'' because the team wanted so badly to win, Wong said.

The team actually picked up one of the techniques that helped them win by watching Jefferson in previous competitions. Each of the Kempsville team members took one or more of the subject areas included in the competition and became the specialist on that topic.

Years of work paid off for Kempsville's scientific ``Dream Team,'' but they haven't forgotten what it feels like to be the rookies.

``The first year I went to science bowl as a freshman, I sat there and thought, `Wow,' '' said Lin. ``I was just dumbfounded.''

Now, Wong said, ``We're really good at working as a team.'' MEMO: Anyone interested in helping finance the team's trip to the

national competition should contact Kempsville High School, 474-8400. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot

After a strong showing in the regional competition of the National

Science Bowl, Kempsville's team, including, from left, seniors Paul

Hamilton, Andrea Wong and Steven Lin, will compete in the national

championship.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu