Three eighth graders from Heath Middle School (HMS) won this year’s U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl t-shirt design contest. Sam Dobson, Caroline Roberts and Gavin Schooley collaborated on a design selected as this year’s official event t-shirt.
In September, DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office challenged local middle and high school students to design the official DOE West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl t-shirt, which will be given to students and coaches to wear at the 2023 academic competition. HMS received $1,000 for their students’ winning design.
“It’s a joy to work all year with my team and see how they grow and challenge each other to become better. This year, I am blessed to have a team that is very supportive of each other. They are so cooperative, hard-working, and as evidenced by their winning t-shirt design, they are also a very creative group,” Roberts said. “I am so thankful to DOE and all the contractors who volunteer their time each year to make the Science Bowl an engaging day of competition for all the area students.”
While Dobson, Roberts, and Schooley are passionate about science, it was a national sporting event that inspired their design.
“When we saw this was the 15th anniversary of the Science Bowl, it reminded us of the Super Bowl’s iconic Roman numerals,” Roberts said. “We decided it would be exciting to theme our shirts after that.”
High school students will compete in the annual academic competition on February 3 while middle school students will compete on February 10. This year’s competition will be conducted in-person for the first time since 2020. Students, coaches, and volunteers are looking forward to the face-to-face interaction.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to compete face-to-face instead of not being able to see (other teams) because of COVID,” Schooley said.
This is the sixth year for the DOE Science Bowl t-shirt design contest and the 15th year for the DOE West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl competition. The West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl attracts dozens of schools and more than 100 regional students to compete for the opportunity to advance to the national level.
“Each year I am impressed with the many student t-shirt design concepts entered and the excitement our students demonstrate during the academic competition,” said Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Manager Joel Bradburne. “The DOE West Kentucky Regional Science allows our students to showcase their scientific prowess and help expand their knowledge in a variety of scientific disciplines. We are proud to celebrate the 15th year of this great Paducah event.”
