Six students from High School South have qualified for the semi-final exam for the 2007 U.S. Physics Team. Pictured at left, the semi-finalists are Kimberly Li, front left, Ying-Ying Tran, Ian Frankel, back left, Warren Cai, David Ku, and Bohua Zhan.##M:[more]##
The students are among the top 200 physics students in the country. The semi-finalists, their teacher Brendan Field, and High School South will receive awards for this achievement.
American Association of Physics Teachers recruits, selects, and trains teams each year to compete in the International Physics Olympiad Competition. The selection process begins in early January when high school teachers nominate their best students and 200 of them advance to the semi-final round of competition.
A second test, student transcripts, and letters of recommendation are used to select the 24 members of the U.S. Physics Team. They travel to the University of Maryland-College Park at the end of May for the annual U.S. Physics Team Training Camp where they engage in nine days of intense studying, testing, and problem solving.
At the end of that camp, five students selected for the “Traveling Team” return for three days of intense lab work before they are ready for the international event.