Several teams from WW-P High School South placed in the 14th annual Chemagination competition. The event was held at Princeton University’s Frick Chemistry Laboratory on June 11.
Sponsored by the Princeton and Trenton Sections of the American Chemical Society, this year’s competition attracted nearly 70 students in grades 10 through 12. For the competition, students at each school formed teams and applied chemistry to an idea of their choosing that might improve our lives 25 years from now.
They communicated their story as a feature article for a high school science magazine, along with cover art. Teams defended the science underlying their innovation during interviews with two of a panel of eight judges, who evaluated scientific soundness, clarity, creativity and teamwork.
Winning first place in the category of Alternate Energy Sources was the Solar H2 – The Clean Energy Powerhouse team comprised of Jon Yuan, Joshua Forrest and Renjie Xu.
The first-place winner in the Environment category was Cyanigate, made up of Sera Saju, Wesley Nass and Daniel Chau.
Winning second place in the category of New Materials was the Graphene Aerogel team, comprised of Salil Desai, Rishab Bhandari and Chong Xia.
FixAir was the second place winner in Environment. On the team was Ritika Sinha, Shivangi Sogani and Jasmine Soni.
The teams that placed first in each of the four competition categories are eligible to advance to the regional competition. It will be held during the 2017 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) of the ACS in Hershey PA.
#b#Writing contest winner#/b#
West Windsor resident Grant Weingaertner, 11, is a winner of the 350 for 50 writing contest sponsored by the Cotsen Children’s Library of Princeton University.
His story “Word” was published in the Picture Book Press and can be found online at popgoesthepage.princeton.edu/350-for-50-2016.
Weingaertner recently graduated from 5th grade at Village School along with his triplet brothers, and will be attending Community Middle School next year.
In this year’s contest, Cotsen challenged young writers from three different age categories to pen a 350-word story that included the sentence “It unfurled slowly, then settled.” In addition to having their story published, winners won a $50 shopping spree at Labyrinth Books in Princeton.
#b#Book published#/b#
Gita Varadarajan, a resident of West Windsor and a second grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton, recently had a children’s book published that she co-authored with well-known author, Sarah Weeks.
The book, called “Save Me a Seat” and published by Scholastic, “touches on important issues of cultural differences, assumptions, friendship, bullying, all of which are important issues facing our children today,” Varadarajan said.
The book is about two boys, one Indian and one American and the unlikely friendship that forms between them.
“I have also been nominated by Library Guild as one of the hottest new authors of Spring 2016, to watch out for,” Varadarajan said.
#b#College news#/b#
Boston University: Recent graduates from West Windsor include Michelle H. Grbic, bachelor of science in speech, language, and hearing science; Shannon M. MacKay, bachelor of science in health science, cum laude; Margaret Tang, bachelor of arts in mathematics; and Samantha L. Woo, bachelor of science in health science. Woo was also named to the dean’s list for the spring semester.
Plainsboro resident Kevin Terhorst received a master of business administration in health sector management and a master of science in information systems, both with high honors. Plainsboro residents Sharanya Chavva, Kevin W. Gu, and Bethany L. Wu were named to the dean’s list for the spring semester.
Clemson University: Amy Victoria Lee of West Windsor graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science in marketing, and Alexander Howard James of West Windsor graduated with a bachelor of science in economics.
Lee and James were also named to the dean’s list for the spring semester along with Samantha Blaire Phelan of West Windsor, whose major is architecture, Sean William Flannery of Plainsboro.
Colgate University: Erica Borsack of West Windsor received a degree in political science and women’s studies.
Elizabethtown College: Meghan Vogt of West Windsor graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. She was also named to the dean’s list for the spring semester.
