Potomac Students Compete For Spot on U.S. Physics Team

Thirteen students from the Montgomery Blair High School Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet Program have a shot at competing on the 2012 U.S. Physics Team.

Tenth-grader Alexander Bourzutschky and 11th-grader William Cai of Potomac were among the students named as semifinalists for the team on February 23 by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics.

In January more than 3,000 high school students nationwide took a written physics test, called the F=ma exam, and based on their scores, approximately 400 were named as semifinalists for the U.S. Physics Team. Later this month, based on these students’ scores on a semifinal exam, the twenty members of the team will be announced. After further testing at the end of May, five of these twenty students will be named members of the 2012 U.S. Physics Team traveling team, qualifying them to represent the United States at the 43rd International Physics Olympiad to be held in Estonia in July.

Magnet physics and mathematics teacher James Schafer serves as coach of the Blair physics team.

“I am very proud of all the students who participated in the U.S. Physics Team selection process," he said. "Having thirteen semifinalists is a great accomplishment and a testament to the hard work the students put in and the passion they display for physics.”