Plainsboro resident Charlie Liu is set to travel to Boston on Jan. 7 to compete as a division finalist in the Music Teachers National Association’s Senior Piano Competition.
The winner of this competition will compete in the National Finals during the MTNA National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in March.
Liu earned the spot in the finals after winning the Senior Division of the New Jersey MTNA Piano Performance Competition. A junior at High School South, Liu has been studying piano for 12 years.
Liu has been an accomplished piano player since early age, setting a world record at age 8 for performing in all three concert halls inside the world-famous Carnegie Hall.
He has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey shows, and he became the youngest musician to become Lang Lang International Music Foundation Scholar. Liu has won top prizes in state competitions, as well as other solo and concerto competitions.
Girl Scout award winners
Ahana Banerjee, Diya Rai and Sreekruthi Dubagunta recently earned their Girl Scout Silver Award for their project, “Take a Trip Around the World.” The girls are in the 8th grade at Community Middle School and are members of Cadette Troop 71602.
The goal of their project was to educate children about different cultures around the world. As part of the project, they taught seven sessions for grades K-2 during the Extended Day Program in Town Center Elementary School.
They thaught the other kids about China, France, Mexico, India, Italy, Germany and Kenya. Some 70 children were divided into three groups, with each group was led by a different girl. Activities included country facts, crafts, games, dances, music, stories, fun packets and passports related to the country of the week.
Also completing her Silver Award project was Natalie Raday of West Windsor, a scout in Troop 70935.
The goal of her project was to help kids learn about recycling and to make fun habits of it. Raday created a folder of crafts, games and presentations about recycling. She taught the kids about reducing and reusing, as well as recycling in presentations. She led and played each game with the children. She provided the documentation of the games, crafts and presentations to the EDP and PTA directors of the school district.
