Governor’s School
Governor’s School candidates from West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District include students from both schools. Some of the students still have qualifiers and auditions before being accepted by the program for the summer of 2005.
Engineering and Technology: High School South: Michael Zhao and Jerrald Chen; High School North: Derrick Yu and John Chang.
Sciences: High School South: Josephine Li and Peter Wei; High School North: Alex Yang and Janice Chou.
Environmental Sciences: High School South: Pooja Khanna and Kelly Nigh; High School North: Victor Chu and Yehna Choe.
Public Issues: High School South: Rachel Stephenson and Khara Lewin; High School North: Kimberly Dong and Eric Zatz.
International Studies: High School South: Brian De and Remi Meehan; High School North: Silpa Kovvali and Rajiv Ramkrishman.
Arts: High School South: Elizabeth Kebel, F. (Sophie) Zhouzheng, Jonathan Amira, and Alexa Hoyne. High School North: Boyang Hou, Y (Jane) Huang, Caitlin Tierney, Carly Adler, and Sabina Carlson.
Math Awards
High School South took second place in the 28th Annual Mathematics Contest for New Jersey Secondary Students sponsored by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey. High School North was named third in the state. High School South had a team score of 62 and High School North received a team score of 57. The Math League Advisors are Carol Reichmann and Janine LeBlanc, High School South; and Arvid Allen and Judith Cinnamond, High School North.
The Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey also recognized the following individuals for high scores: Bohua Zhan, High School South, second place; Ian Frankel, High School South, third place; Alex Yang, Andrew Delman, and Victor Chu, High School North: honorable mentions; Brian Zhao and Dan Le, High School South: honorable mentions.
Judith Cinnamond, a math teacher at High School North, was selected as a winner of the Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching. She was honored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
Ronald Graham, president of MAA, said, “Many mathematicians and others who use mathematics in their work received their first contact with challenging mathematics problems as part of their participation in the American Mathematical Competitions. The MAA is proud to sponsor these competitions among our most mathematically accomplished students. As MAA president, I congratulate all the students who take part and express our gratitude to the dedicated teachers, such as Judy Cinnamond, who encourage and train them.”
As a recipient of this honor, Cinnamond receives a cash award, a letter of recognition, a Sliffe Award Winner pin, a certificate from the MAA, a one-year membership in the MAA, and 20 subscriptions to Math Horizons for distribution to students.
What makes this honor so rewarding is that nominations for this award are made by students from the 60 highest scoring American Mathematics Competitions. Cinnamond was nominated by Matthew Chu, Taktin Oey, and Yifei Chen.
Weather Bug
Michelle Vitulli, Village School Technology Resource teacher, has installed a weather tracking station at the school, with grant funds from the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation and the Village School PTA. The system provides real-time weather conditions to NBC-New York meteorologists and the local community. In addition, the school will use the tracking station to enhance the curriculum under an innovative program called WeatherBug Achieve, co-developed by NBC and AWS Convergence Technologies.
WeatherBug Achieve is an award-winning, interactive, learning program that seamlessly integrates real-time local and national weather data and camera images into a range of science, math, technology, and geography lessons for elementary, middle, and high school students. The Village School WeatherBug program was made possible through an exclusive partnership with NBC, which is committed to providing an engaging teaching tool for schools, while giving local residents the most local, real-time weather information available.
Using WeatherBug Achieve, teachers can create customized learning activities based on current and historical weather conditions from the Village School weather station, such as wind speed or humidity. In addition, students can compare local weather conditions to data with more than 7,”000 other schools nationwide that participate in the WeatherBug program. More than 100 local televisions stations nationwide participate in the program.
Team Lego
Alex Lohwater of West Windsor was a member of the team from Cambridge School that went to the 2004 New Jersey Lego League Tournament. The event, sponsored by the national organization FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), was held at Mount Olive High School where 43 teams from throughout New Jersey competed in the challenge, “No limits: How technology can help all people to be equal, regardless of physical ability.”
Salvation Army
Student Council members from Community Middle School completed a month-long effort and raised $1,”125 through canister collections for the Salvation Army fundraiser. The money was used to purchase toys, food, and clothing for those in need during the holiday season. The CMS Student Council is now gearing up for its next community service project, entitled the Buddy Ball, which will raise money for sports equipment and sports programs for children in need. Community Middle School Student Council advisors are faculty members Samantha Tognela, Allison Friske, and Stacey Belton
Women in Science
Laura Cook, Shalini Cruwndhi, and Mallika Jois, all juniors at High School North and members of the Women in Science’s Youth Section, presented chemistry concepts to area Girl Scouts at the Hickory Corner Library in East Windsor.
The chemistry road show was sponsored by the Trenton section of the American Chemistry Society as part of its annual observance of National Chemistry Week. The group presented five creative, hands-on experiments.
Helen Tanzini, an assistant chemistry professor at Mercer County College, coordinated the project. “As girls get older, their enthusiasm for science often wanes,” she says. “A presentation like this reinforces the idea that chemistry is fascinating and yes, fun.”
Happy Trails
Jessie Julius and Dana Kercheval organized a community service project for students from Village School and members of the Parent-Teacher Association of the school. They made bags of trail mix to donate to the West Windsor Senior Center, Plainsboro Senior Center, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, and area senior living establishments. The activity supports the district’s December character theme, which is caring.
Essay Winners
The West Windsor Lions Club, sponsors of the “Why I Love America” Essay Contest, announced winners in West Windsor and Plainsboro. The contest has been held annually for the past few years and is open to students attending grades 1 through 12, living in West Windsor or Plainsboro. Winners received a $100 US Savings Bond with a letter and certificate acknowledging their award.
The winners include: Kacy Lane, grade 1, Dutch Neck School; Jeremy Kaish, grade 3, Dutch Neck School; Poonam Sidhu, grade 4, Village Elementary School; Molly Karlin, grade 5, Millstone River School; Giselle Torralba, grade 6, Community Middle School; Sasank Isola, grade 7, Community Middle School; Ramyata Upmaka, grade 8, Thomas R. Grover Middle School; Kathleen Kelliher, grade 10, High School South; and Nora Wong, grade 12, High School South.
College
Suzanne Hoang Curtis of Plainsboro received an associate of fine arts degree with a major in visual arts from Raritan Valley Community College. The ceremony was held on December 16.
Washington D.C. Classroom
Silpa Kovvali of West Windsor will attend Presidential Classroom’s program in June in Washington D.C. She is a junior at High School North. The week-long program includes exploration of the federal legal system and issues of freedom and order in a democratic society.
The scholars interact with member of Congress, presidential appointees, senior military officials, business leaders, and journalists. They observe the U.S. Congress in action, visit congressional offices, and debate current issues with peers from the United States and abroad. They also visit the White House, the U.S. Department of State, and Arlington National Cemetery. For information about the program visit www.presidentailclassroom.org.
